Occupational Therapy student named to UT System Student Advisory Council

Time & Date

Thursday, May 24, 2018

By Kate Hunger 

Carlos Herrera will represent UT Health San Antonio and the School of Health Professions on the Student Advisory Council for the UT System in the 2018-2019 academic year.

Herrera, president of the Occupational Therapy Class of 2019, said he is looking forward to his role.

“I felt it was a great opportunity to get some our initiatives out there and express them,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to advocate for all of our students.”

One of the initiatives Herrera plans to promote is interprofessional development, something he said the School of Health Professions already works to foster. He pointed to a gross anatomy course he took with Physical Therapy students as one example of the benefits of intentionally creating opportunities for students of the different health professions to come together. 

 “We formed some really strong bonds,” he said, explaining that learning how to work well with other health professionals yields better outcomes.

“Unless we have authentic relationships, it’s going to be that much harder to be efficient,” he said.

Improving interdepartmental communication is another area of focus, he said. 

Hernandez will begin serving as a council representative in the fall and will travel to Austin at least three times during the academic year to meet with the rest of the council, which is comprised of two students from each institution within the UT System.