This Week@WesternU, March 14-18, 2016
WesternU awarded state funding for PA and nursing students to assist underserved communities
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Allied Health Professions and the College of Graduate Nursing received state funding from the Song-Brown Program for the third consecutive year.
The Department of Physician Assistant Education, part of the College of Allied Health Professions, will receive about $180,000 from the Song-Brown program in 2016-17. The program received $177,000 last year.
The College of Graduate Nursing (CGN) will receive $240,000 from the 2016-17 Song-Brown program. The program received $288,625 last year.
Click here to read the full story.
WesternU’s Austin Lecture to focus on adverse childhood experiences
The annual Robert L. Austin Endowed Lectureship in Pediatric Medicine, Pharmacology & Health Care Policy will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2016 in Lecture Hall I of Western University of Health Sciences’ Health Education Center, 701 E. Second Street, Pomona, California.
Keynote speaker Vincent J. Felitti, MD, UCSD Clinical Professor of Medicine and Co-Principal Investigator of the Adverse Childhood Experience Study, will present “Exploring the Lifelong Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences.” The lecture is open to the public and will also be streamed live to WesternU’s COMP-Northwest campus in Lebanon, Oregon.
Click here to read the full story.
Click here to visit the Austin Lectureship website.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
WesternU alum capitalizes on the NHSC scholarship
Western University of Health Sciences alumnus Kelvin Vu, DO ‘08, made one the best decision of his life when he applied for and received a four-year National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship before entering medical school.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) graduate knew that NHSC would provide him with financial freedom coming out of medical school after completing his residency by agreeing to provide primary care in an underserved area for four years.
Vu heard about the NHSC scholarship and repayment program when he was studying for his MCAT.
“Thanks to the NHSC, I had no debt. I was able to choose where I wanted to work based on what type of medicine I was going to practice and based on the population that I wanted to serve, and that freedom is very hard to get nowadays,” Vu said. “I based my decision on my heart and on my passion to help the underserved.”
Click here to read the full story.
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Mihai Covasa, Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, has been invited to serve on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology (Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology). This invitation “recognizes the appointee publically to be a respected authority in integrative and comparative physiology.” Dr. Covasa is also an Academic Editor for the journal PlosOne.
Dr. Vicki Wedel of COMP/CDM and research collaborator Dr. Daniel Wescott of Texas State San Marcos published a paper, “Using dental cementum increment analysis to estimate age and season of death in African Americans from a historical cemetery in Missouri,” in the International Journal of Paleopathology. The paper can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2015.10.003
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
CVM Assistant Professor Gagandeep Kaur presented her research results at the annual meeting of the interdisciplinary Forum for Applied Animal Behavior (IFAAB) held recently in Phoenix, Arizona. The title of her presentation was “Small Animal Veterinarians Perspective on Behavioral Diagnoses for Use of Fluoxetine.” CVM Professor Victoria Voith was the co-investigator for this study. The meeting is attended by professionals with research focus on animal behavior.
From the College of Optometry:
Kudos on accomplishments
Kristy Remick-Waltman, OD, FCOVD, was a presenter at the Southern California Tri-Counties Branch of the International Dyslexia Association’s Annual Conference held in Riverside, California on March 5, 2016. Dr. Remick-Waltman’s topic was, “A Missing Link To Improve Reading Fluency and Comprehension; Eye Tracking and Vision Perception Techniques.”
From University Advancement:
Kudos on accomplishments
Public Affairs Specialist Michelle Steinhebel received the 2015 Junior First Citizen Award at the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Awards Banquet March 8, 2016. Presenter Wyatt King, who received the same award last year, noted Steinhebel’s dedication to her family, to education, and to her community through her many volunteer activities. In her role as public affairs specialist at WesternU’s COMP-Northwest campus, she is “shaping our medical school’s reputation and fostering its success while working to build a culture of education and wellness in Lebanon.”
Alumni news
The Alumni Office sponsored lunch for the nearly 140 members of the PharmD Class of 2016 on Tuesday, March 8 during their Pharmacist In Charge (PIC) Week at the Doubletree Hotel in Claremont. Director of Alumni Relations Russel Heskin also had the opportunity to briefly speak to the soon-to-be-graduates about how they can and why they should stay involved with and support the University after they graduate.
The Alumni Office hosted WesternU Paint Night at the Metro Ale House on Friday, March 11. A capacity crowd of 50 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and guests enjoyed a wine and cheese reception before being led by a professional artist in recreating the evening’s featured painting. Pictures from the event can be found at http://westernu.smugmug.com/WesternU-Alumni/PaintNight.
