Stephen Gambescia, PhD, an associate clinical professor in the Health Services Administration Program and the Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, was awarded the title of MCHES (Master Certified Health Education Specialist) this summer.

Christiana Awosan, a marriage and family therapist and doctoral candidate in the Couple and Family Therapy Department, received the prestigious John and Harriette McAdoo Award. Established by the Ethnic Minorities Section of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).

Physician Assistant Week, which occurs every year between October 6 and 12, is dedicated to celebrating the Physician Assistant (PA) profession across the country. Started by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, PA Week is a tradition...

Juanita A. Gardner, MPH, BS, PA-C, joined the PA Department faculty in May 2012. In her role, she facilitates small group learning, teaches in the classroom setting, conducts site visits, creates relationships with new clinical rotation sites in urban...

Drexel’s Physician Assistant Program, which is known for its diversity, mission, community engagement, and outstanding curriculum, owes much of its success to a leader who never stops innovating. Patrick Auth, PhD, MS, PA-C, Associate Clinical Professor and Physician Assistant Department Chair, believes wholeheartedly...

“This program felt like a good fit and the faculty was very approachable. I think they do a good job at emphasizing taking what you learned in class and translating it to the clinical experience,” said Lauren Weaver, a member of the Physician Assistant Class of 2013...

The Wilbur B. Oaks Physician Assistant Student Society was named for Dr. Oaks, an internal medicine PA who retired from the College’s PA Program faculty two years ago and was instrumental in starting the Program here in 1971. While the Student Society once focused much of its attention on planning fun social events for...

“We were using Standardized Patients and simulation back in the mid-90s. Our students were required to complete Standardized Patient exercises before graduation. Back then, it was a way for us to evaluate what the students had learned. Now, though, we’re using it as an education tool in every single course,” said Nina Multak, Assistant Clinical Professor in the PA Department...

The Physician Assistant profession developed during the 1940s when United States military personnel returned from World War II with hands-on medical experience in the field but without a formal education or degree that would allow them to practice on civilians. The first PA curriculum was created by Eugene Stead...

The mission of the PA Department at the College of Nursing and Health Professions is twofold: to educate Physician Assistants to work in medically underserved areas and to promote the PA profession.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the College of Nursing and Health Professions two federal grants for scholarships that will help disadvantaged students in the Physican Assistant and Couple and Family Therapy programs. The College’s detailed student...

Physician Assistant students Cam-Tu Pham and Anna Whittington are among the small number of 2012 Physician Assistant Foundation Scholarship recipients. This scholarship is part of the American Academy of Physician Assistants Student Academy and was established in 1977...

Adjunct Professor Becky Castellanos, DrNP, presented her dissertation at the Third Annual International Conference on Violence in the Healthcare Sector. The conference, which aims to raise awareness of the implications violence has on the healthcare sector, took place from October 24-26 in Vancouver, Canada.

Sharon Byrne, DrNP, an assistant clinical professor in the Graduate Nursing Division and the Track Coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, had her poster abstract displayed November 2 at The National Institute of Health’s 2012 Eliminating Health Disparities Summit in National Harbor, Maryland.

Arts Therapies Department professor Joke Bradt, PhD, gave 2 presentations at the American Music Therapy Association's national annual conference in mid-October. This year’s conference theme was “Changing Winds: Innovation in Music Therapy.”

Whether you’ve noticed the movie poster for Chariots of Fire in his office or you’ve seen him going on a run toward the Delaware River after work, you might already know that Steve Gambescia, PhD, has a pretty serious passion for running. His athletic career began at St. Joseph’s University, where he...

H. Michael Dreher, PhD, an associate professor in the Graduate Nursing Division, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing on October 13 during the Academy’s 39th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Lisa Chiarello, PhD, and Robert Palisano, ScD, of the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences presented two research workshops at the 4th International Cerebral Palsy Conference in Pisa, Italy. Their presentations centered around a research platform...

Professors Jose Barcega and Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, have each been awarded a spot on the Top 100 Nursing Professors in 2012 List by BSNtoMSN.org. Professors Barcega and DiMaria-Ghalili were selected based upon the academic rankings of the College of Nursing and Health...

Obstructed labor is a leading cause of neonatal and maternal death in developing countries. Often the only way to save both mother and baby’s lives in cases of obstructed labor is to intervene surgically, though there are unfortunately far too few health professionals trained and capable of providing...

On October 24, Al Rundio, PhD, DNP, Assistant Dean for Advanced Practice in Nursing, was honored at the 9th Annual Divas and Dons Gala. The event recognized the contributions of 19 awardees and was sponsored by the Institute for Nursing of the Foundation of the New Jersey State Nurses Association.

Nutrition Department instructor Nyree Dardarian was interviewed by Prevention magazine this month about the health benefits of root vegetables. She discussed the unique properties of parsnips, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabaga, and carrots, as well as provided preparation tips for each of the root vegetables.

Jennifer Quinlan, PhD, was interviewed by FOX-29 on October 25 for a segment about what health code violations mean and how they can be avoided. Quinlan served as the expert...

Art Therapy students Lauren Messina and Jessica Schumacher are this year’s recipients of the Ronald E. and Nancy Scheller Hays Art Therapy Scholarship. The scholarship is offered to graduate students in the Art Therapy Master’s Program who complete the required courses in the first year of the program.

Trish Shewokis, PhD, presented research at the 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society in San Diego, California.

Trish Shewokis, PhD and Maggie O’Neil, PhD, had their paper, “Cardiorespiratory Response During Physical Therapist Intervention for Infants and Young Children with Chronic Respiratory Insufficiency,” accepted for publication. It will be featured...

Cheryl Portwood, PhD, and Jean MacFadyen, PhD, presented lectures on developments in geriatric nursing to audiences at the Saint Francis School of Health Sciences in Cameroon, Africa.

Nursing faculty members Cheryl Mele and Cindy Little, PhD, and Ellen Giarelli, PhD, each contributed chapters to a textbook, Genetics and Genomics for Nursing, that will be available in 2013.

Jan Meiers, DPT, an associate clinical professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, was certified by the Geriatrics Section of the American Physical Association as a Certified Expert on Exercise in the Aging Adult (CEEAA). This certification...

In September, Stephen Gambescia, PhD, traveled with Scott Gabriel Knowles, PhD, Director of the Great Works Symposium, and nine students who completed a course called “Perspectives on Disabilities” to the 2012 Paralympics in London.

Peggy Dolan, Executive Director of the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund, gave a presentation at the Friends Select School on October 25. Her talk, titled “The Other Side of Medicine: the emotional, physical, and financial turbulence of serious illness on patients and their families,” revealed just a few...

At the end of the summer, the College entered into a partnership with Foulkeways at Gwynedd, a continuing care retirement community located in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. 16 students from both the ACE and traditional four-year BSN programs offered assistance to Foulkeways residents while...

Jennifer Nasser, PhD, an assistant professor in the Nutrition Sciences Department, had an article published in Obesity. Dr. Nasser, along with Angelo Del Parigi, MD, who has a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department, published “Electroretinographic detection of human brain dopamine response to oral food stimulation.” The article is about...

We live in a fast paced-world, characterized by ever-expanding and increasingly sophisticated technology. Today’s students have the ability to communicate instantly with one another, to access vast libraries and to store all of their communications in an electronic device no larger than the size of a small book.

Halloween is just around the corner, and with it comes the opportunity to overindulge in sweet treats. The only thing scarier than the costumes and haunted houses is the amount of sugar we consume during the holiday and the weeks following.