• Roberta Waite, EdD, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, ANEF, associate professor and assistant dean of academic integration and evaluation of community programs in the Doctoral Nursing Department, was chosen as the recipient of the 2015 Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) Distinguished Nurse of the Year Award. The award recognizes a nurse who has demonstrated leadership characteristics and rendered distinguished service to the profession. 

 

• The Physician Assistant Program was granted accreditation – continued status by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The ARC-PA noted zero areas of noncompliance with the Standards.

 

• Lisa Schmidt, PhD, associate director and associate clinical professor in the Behavioral Health Counseling Department, and Veronica Carey, PhD, assistant clinical professor and associate director of the Saturday Scholars Program in the Behavioral Health Counseling Department, have been selected to present a 90-minute workshop on “Community Based Learning – How Students and Community Partners Learn from One Another” at the 12th Congress of World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) being held in Seoul, Korea from November 2-5, 2015.  

 

• Julie Kinzel, MEd, PA-C, assistant clinical professor in the Physician Assistant Department, was named the recipient of the Physician Assistant Educator of the Year Award, Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants (PSPA). 

 

• Megan Schneider, MAMS, MSPH, clinical instructor in the Physician Assistant Department, was nominated for the Rising Star Award, Physician Assistant Education Association, which recognizes a program faculty member who has made noteworthy contributions to PA education. 

 

• Linda Dayer-Berenson, PhD, associate clinical professor in the Division of Undergraduate Nursing, was recently interviewed by NPR Latino USA regarding pain management of Hispanic men and its associated cultural implications. The story was pre-recorded to air at a later date, yet to be determined.

 

• Stephanie Brooks, PhD, associate clinical professor in the Department of Couple and Family Therapy, was appointed as the new director of the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP), part of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). 

 

• Rose Ann DiMaria–Ghalili, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Graduate Nursing and the Department of Nutrition Sciences, was appointed to a four-year term on the Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Board for the Rehabilitation Engineering and Prosthetics/Orthotics Subcommittee. Additionally, a paper that DiMaria-Ghalili co-authored, entitled “Addressing Disease Related Malnutrition in Hospitalized Patients: A Call for a Natioanl Goal”, was published in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. She also presented at the October meeting of the Institute of Medicine on meeting the dietary needs of older adults. 

 

• Elizabeth Jane McCarthy, PhD, CRNA, FAAN, CAPT (RET), NC, PHS, adjunct faculty member, was awarded the “2015 USU Graduate School of Medicine Award” from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Alumni Association for outstanding contributions to education, research and advocacy.