School of Health Professions News

SHP Students selected for Alpha Eta Society

Thursday, May 28, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

School of Health Professions students and faculty were inducted this spring into the Alpha Eta Society, the national honor society for the allied health professions.

Because of COVID-19, the campus chapter has not held its traditional in-person ceremony. A virtual induction ceremony is being discussed as a possible alternative, said campus chapter president, Physical Therapy Associate Professor Martha Acosta, Ph.D., PT, GCS. 

Medical Laboratory Sciences: an alumna’s perspective on the profession

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Carrie Bartosh is a laboratory supervisor in the Microbiology Department at University Hospital in San Antonio, where she oversees day-to-day operations and performs testing within the Immunology, Virology, and Molecular sections. She earned a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory sciences from UT Health San Antonio and is certified as a medical laboratory scientist (MLS) with a specialty in virology.
Read Bartosh’s insights below on the education and expertise an MLS brings to the medical team, as well as her experiences during COVID-19 testing.

Reflections on SHP graduating classes 

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Spring and summer graduates from the School of Health Professions programs are beginning their careers at a time of significant challenge. Faculty and department leaders share their accomplishments and reflect on their hopes for the students as they launch their careers in the health professions.

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

SHP students receive awards for leadership, service, research and clinical excellence

Monday, March 30, 2020

By Kate Hunger

Lisa Le never considered herself to be an academically strong student, but she says something clicked when she began clinical rotations. In recognition of her performance during the clinical phase of her program, the third-year physical therapy student recently won the Student Clinical Excellence Award.

PA professor still relies on her medical laboratory sciences training

Monday, March 30, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Department of Physician Assistant Studies Admissions Chair and Assistant Clinical Professor Leticia Bland wasn’t sure about her path after graduating high school, so she decided to join the U.S. Air Force. When she asked the recruiter to recommend a career that paid well and offered transferrable skills to the civilian world, she was given assigned a medical laboratory science.

“It was the best decision I ever made,” says Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C.

New MLS program director plans to continue legacy of excellence

Thursday, February 27, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Assistant Professor Gerardo Ramos, MS, Ph.D. MLS (ASCP), F-ABFT, officially assumed the duties of Medical Laboratory Sciences program director on Jan. 1.

“The first goal is to continue the legacy of excellence,” established by his predecessor, former Program Director and Associate Professor Cheryl Burns, M.S., MLS (ASCP), Ramos said. “She has done an amazing job.”

New MLS faculty member has worked around the world

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Assistant Professor Terri Murphy-Sanchez, CSMLS, ASCP, has lived and worked in three different countries, a global experience she said was made possible by the medical laboratory science profession.

“I like to think our profession is very portable and a great stepping stone,” said Murphy-Sanchez, who joined the Medical Laboratory Sciences faculty in August 2019. 

Murphy-Sanchez attended college in her native Canada and worked at a large pediatric hospital in Toronto before moving to Saudi Arabia, where she worked in two different hospitals.

Inaugural TSAHP student leadership development program kicks off

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs David Henzi, Ed.D., is co-directing the first student leadership program offered by the Texas Society of Allied Health Professions (TSAHP).

“The goal is to train future leaders in different health profession programs,” Henzi said, noting that the program is interprofessional by design. 

Henzi’s co-director is fellow TSAHP board member Lynette Watts, Ph.D., RT(R), associate professor at The Shimadzu School of Radiologic Sciences at Midwestern State University. 

School’s new Ph.D. program to launch in Fall 2020

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

The School of Health Professions is adding a Ph.D. in Health Sciences to help meet the demand for allied health faculty and researchers with doctoral degrees.

The program also will help support evidence-based practice and outcomes research in allied health, said School of Health Professions Dean David C. Shelledy, Ph.D., RRT, FAARC, FASAHP.

“This will be helpful for our school, other schools of allied health in Texas and for colleges and universities around the country,” Shelledy said.

MLS students participate in interprofessional educational experience

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

By Kate Hunger 

First-year medical students and first-year medical laboratory science students learned how to improve communication between clinical staff and the laboratory during an inaugural interprofessional educational experience in November.

“We worked through a few of the common barriers to communication between the clinical staff and the laboratory,” said Assistant Professor Cordelia Kudika, MA, CHS (ABHI), who also is director of clinical education for MLS.