School of Health Professions News

SHP to host Frontera de Salud volunteer information session

Thursday, August 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Janna Roberts wants students in the School of Health Professions to know they are welcome to volunteer with Frontera de Salud, an interprofessional, student-run organization that provides preventive health services and education to the medically underserved in San Antonio and South Texas. 

EHS faculty member seeks to identify victims of human trafficking

Thursday, August 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Emergency Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor and Civilian Training Officer Matt Short is leading a project to create a validated tool to identify victims of human trafficking encountered by emergency responders.

Short, the continuing education instructor for the San Antonio Fire Department, saw the need for such a tool after noticing gaps in several continuing education conferences he attended to renew his paramedic license.

“All three had some element of human tracking but nobody told me what to do about it,” he recalled. 

Respiratory Care students have preclinical competencies ahead of ICU internships

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Second-year Respiratory Care students practiced their preclinical competencies this summer before beginning internships in intensive care settings this fall.

The purpose of the preclinical competency checks is to ensure students are familiar with various types of ventilators and other equipment.

PA students are trained on how to stop the bleed

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

The Department of Physician Assistant Studies trains students how to stop uncontrolled bleeding during trauma situations before the arrival of emergency responders.

The Stop the Bleed campaign, part of a national initiative, aims to give people with the skills to effectively apply tourniquets to stop bleeding resulting from trauma such as car accidents or mass violence, said Physician Assistant Studies Assistant Professor–Clinical Roland Paquette, PA-C.

Two OT faculty members appointed to national leadership positions

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Two faculty members in the Department of Occupational Therapy recently were appointed to leadership positions within national professional organizations.

Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., found his passion all because of a knee injury.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

By Kate Hunger

“I was a swimmer and triathlete for years and my knee got bad,” he said. “I went to do physical therapy myself after knee surgery and I just fell in love with the profession. Then, I went to investigate what the students do, what they have to go through, and I said, ‘That’s it.’”

Almeida joined the Department of Physical Therapy in June. He is course director for Exercise Physiology in the coming fall semester and will co-teach Movement Science in the spring. 

Professor attends signing of bill allowing patients access to PT services

Monday, July 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Patients in Texas soon will be able to receive physical therapy treatment without a physician referral.

Signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on June 14, HB 29 allows patient access to physical therapy without a physician referral. Michael Geelhoed, D.P.T., OCS, MTC, associate professor and director of clinical education, attended the bill signing on July 14.

PT and PA students provide health care services in the Dominican Republic

Monday, July 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Riley Morgan was stressed out during his first day providing physical therapy services at a clinic in the Dominican Republic this summer. Then a man who came in complaining of shoulder pain walked in.

“I did three simple techniques that we all learned in our first year,” said Morgan, a third-year Physical Therapy student. “At the end of the exam I asked him to raise his arms again, and he was able to raise both arms above his head and didn’t complain of any pain at all. It was a beacon of hope for me. That patient helped turn my mindset around.”

Virtual dissection tables are fully integrated into PA and OT curriculum

Monday, July 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

Students in the Departments of Physician Assistant Studies and Occupational Therapy have recently augmented their study of anatomy by using digital dissection tables as part of their curriculum.

Speech-language pathology hosts its first free summer clinic and a free childhood apraxia of speech workshop

Monday, July 29, 2019

By Kate Hunger 

The Speech-Language Pathology program is holding its first free pediatric summer clinic.

The clinic began in early July with individual diagnostic evaluations for children ages 3 to 13 in the areas of speech-language delays and disorders, speech sound disorders and social communication disorders. The evaluations were followed by the following clinics: