The divisions within Shenandoah University’s School of Health Professions are distinguishing themselves not only with faculty research, but also with students receiving high-level scholarships and leadership opportunities.
Athletic Training
Janese Malone ’22 was awarded the 2022 Mid Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association Larry Sutton Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to students in a graduate professional athletic training program who indicate an intention to continue academic work while they pursue the profession of athletic training.
Associate professor of Athletic Training Kim Pritchard, Ph.D., had an article she co-authored, “Effect of strength training on jump-landing biomechanics in adolescent females,” published in the Journal of Sports Health in January 2022.
First-year athletic training student Cade Watts was selected for the 2022 Mid Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association William Prentice Scholarship. The William Prentice Scholarship was developed to encourage continuing education of students at the graduate level in an athletic training-related program and is awarded to students who participated with distinction in an athletic training program.
Division of Athletic Training students, Doctor of Physical Therapy/Master of Science in Athletic Training students, three visiting Dublin City U. students, faculty, and one graduate participated in a five-day Wilderness First Responder training course put on by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)/ Landmark Learning in Cullowhee, North Carolina, April 25-30. All students are now WFR certified and ready to help injured persons in the backcountry.
Occupational Therapy
An article co-authored by Occupational Therapy Instructor Allison Shearer, MOT, “Ethical and Medical Considerations for the Clinician-Scientist: A Call for Reflexivity,” was published in Clinical Ethics in November 2021.
MSOT Program Director, Associate Director of the Division of Occupational Therapy / Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Callie Victor, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, Program Director for OTD; and Occupational Therapy Division Director Cathy Felmlee Shanholtz, OTD, presented “Hybrid Teaching & Learning Environments: Strategies for Graduate Students” at the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech in March.
Carla Hatfield ’22 was selected to participate in the 2022 American Occupational Therapy Association/American Occupational Therapy Foundation Summer Institute of Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy. The program introduces students to careers in research, connects them with mentors in the occupational therapy scientific community, and immerses them in a research-focused professional experience.
Physical Therapy
Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Megan Bureau, DPT, has been named chief delegate for the Virginia delegation to the House Of Delegates for the American Physical Therapy Association.
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Katie Bain, Ph.D., DPT, is presenting at National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Annual Meeting in June in Philadelphia on “The Relationship Between Constructs of Health-Related Quality of Life and Lower Extremity Visuomotor Reaction Time in Females with History of Lateral Ankle Sprain.”
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Aaron Hartstein, Ph.D., DPT, has co-authored several recent journal articles: “Virtual Reality Instructional Design in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Education: A Mixed-Methods Usability Study,” in Simulation & Gaming (February 2022); “The Impact of Pain Neuroscience Education in a Hispanic-American Population: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study,” in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice (April 2022) and “Iliac Artery Occlusion,” JOSPT Cases (May 2022).
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy A.J. Lievre, DPT, and Dean of the School of Health Professions and Professor of Physical Therapy Karen Abraham, Ph.D., co-authored “Traits and Attributes of a Successful Physical Therapy Resident: A Delphi Study” published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Education in December 2021.
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Michele Wiley, DPT, co-authored “Regional Differences in School-Based Physical Therapy: Examination of Therapist and Student Characteristics, Service Delivery, Activities, Interventions, and Outcomes” published in Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, Vol. 42 Issue 2, 2022.
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Joe Signorino, Ph.D., DPT, co-authored “What do patients referred to physical therapy for a musculoskeletal condition expect? A qualitative assessment,” in Musculoskeletal Science and Practice (June 2022) and conducted a 5×5 presentation at the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists: “Identifying conservative interventions for individuals with subacromial pain syndrome prior to undergoing a subacromial decompression: A scoping review.”
Physician Assistant Studies
Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Morgan Luck, Ed.D., PA-C, has received the PA Foundation’s Breitman-Dorn Endowed Research Fellowship. Dr. Luck was chosen as the sole recipient from all PA educators across the country.
A research article that Physician Assistant Studies student Cristalle Madray ’23, MPH, was recently published in the Journal of Perinatal Education. Madray has also been accepted as an Area Health Education Centers scholar. The Virginia AHEC Scholars Program recruits, trains, and supports a diverse group of students from across the state, creating a multidisciplinary team of health professionals committed to both community service and the transformation of health care in Virginia.
During the most recent academic year, the Physician Assistant Studies program awarded over $45,000 in scholarships to nine students from its established internal endowed scholarships.
Julia Estes ’23 has been selected to serve on the Virginia Rural Health Association Board of Directors. Estes is also vice president of the SUPA Student Society, Class of 2023.
Shenandoah physician assistant studies students from the Class of 2022 had the opportunity to visit with American Academy of Physician Assistants’ president Jennifer Orozco and the first PA in space Haley Arceneaux during the national PA conference May 20-25 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Arceneaux, a cancer survivor who now works at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, was the medical officer for a recent SpaceX mission. (Left to right, above, are: Isabel Contreras, Kelly Luong, Haley Arceneaux, Jennifer Orozco, Bridget Janecek, and Keionna Wilkerson.)
Graduate Public Health
Director of Graduate Public Health Programs Michelle Gamber, DrPH, and two adjunct faculty, Danielle Webster and Dulce Ruelas, have submitted a manuscript for publication. It is in the final stage of review and is on a COVID-19 and its impact on Health Professions students. Dr. Gamber also had a recent manuscript, “Adolescence Exposure to China’s Great Famine and the Association of Metabolic Syndrome in Adulthood: A Retrospective Study,” published in BMC Public Health (March 2022).
