This Week@WesternU, March 18-22, 2013

From the College of Dental Medicine:

WesternU’s College of Dental Medicine to receive $8.4 million from First 5 LA

The College of Dental Medicine will receive $8.4 million from First 5 LA to provide dental care to uninsured and underserved children.

The First 5 LA Commission approved the initial 19-month contract for $3.1 million with WesternU, part of a five-year, $38 million project in cooperation with UCLA and USC. The total awarded to WesternU through the full five-year implementation of the program is anticipated to be $8.4 million.
Click here to read the full story.

College of Dental Medicine named Leader in Oral Health

The Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine recently received the 2013 Leaders in Oral Health award from the Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County.

The College was one of three recipients of the award, and was singled out “for encouragement of dental vocations in a public health setting.”
Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

U.S. Rep Negrete McLeod prepares COMP students for Capitol Hill lobbying

College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific students want to make a difference, not only in their future patients’ lives, but also in shaping health care nationwide.

Twenty-seven COMP students participated in DO Day on Capitol Hill March 14, 2013, organized by the American Osteopathic Association as an opportunity for Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) and students to lobby members of Congress and their staff face-to-face in Washington, D.C.
Click here to read more on the AOA website.

Click here to read the full story and to watch a video.

COMP-Northwest to hold Donor-Cadaver-Patient memorial service

COMP-Northwest students will hold a Donor-Cadaver-Patient memorial service honoring 23 people whose ultimate gift contributed to their medical education.

The memorial service, which is open to the public, will take place at noon today, March 18, 2013 on campus in the Szeto Lecture Hall, 200 Mullins Drive, Lebanon, Oregon 97355. Click here to read the full story.

Kudos on accomplishments

Paula M. Crone, DO, Vice President, Oregon Campus Operations and Interim Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, was recently named Business Leader of the Year by the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce.

Matt Wedel, PhD, of COMP and CPM and a colleague published a new paper: Wedel, M.J., and Taylor, M.P. 2013. Neural spine bifurcation in sauropod dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation: ontogenetic and phylogenetic implications. Palarch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 10(1): 1-34.

PJVP is an open-access journal and the paper is freely available here: http://www.palarch.nl/wp-content/Wedel-and-Taylor-2013-Neural-spine-bifurcation-in-sauropod-dinosaurs-PJVP-10-1.pdf

Kudos to Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, for community liaison outreach to Native American students attending the multiple rural schools along the northern coast of Oregon. Dr. Benninger and the Medical Anatomical Sciences Department are combining ultrasound and human anatomy exposing K-12 students to the wonders of technology and the human body in health care. He wanted to acknowledge Nik Matsler, Michelle Hovorka, and OMS I students Anna Bryce and Jaclyn Palkert for their professionalism during the interactive tours. This is a step towards our goal to create an outreach academic relationship increasing opportunities in health care fields for Native Americans.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Department of Physician Assistant Education News

Congratulations to the PA Class 2014 who provided an excellent PA Awareness Day. The lunchtime event provided the PA students with the opportunity to share the PA profession with the University. Vendors from many different organizations that employ PAs commented about the positive and organized outreach event. Students enjoyed the lunch and baked goods. The PA department was able to show their new van and one of the new cardiac, lung, and abdominal auscultation manikins. Overall, the PA Awareness day was a huge success.

Congratulations to Chelsea Hemming, PA-S ’14, who is running for the Student Representative position for the California Academy of Physician Assistants Board of Directors. If elected, she will be the second representative from WesternU’s Physician Assistant program in the past two years. The current Student Representative position is held by Saloni Swarup, PA-S ’13.

Department of Physical Therapy Education News

The DPT Class of 2014 attended the Los Angeles Abilities Expo, held March 15-17, as part of their coursework this semester so that they could learn firsthand about the variety of opportunities available for persons with a disability. The 49 students, along with thousands of people with disabilities, their families, caregivers, seniors, wounded veterans and health care professionals, attended the Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For the past 30 years, Abilities Expo has been the one show dedicated to educating and improving the lives of Americans with disabilities, senior citizens, families, caregivers, healthcare professionals and professional therapists. It has been the nation’s foremost event for companies to demonstrate their products and services to the largest community of end-users and industry professionals, and more Expos are planned to take place during 2013 in New York, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Singapore, and San Jose.

From the College of Pharmacy:

College of Pharmacy Professor and Chair of Pharmacy Practice and Administration Anandi V. Law, BPharm, PhD, was recently selected as a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). Click here to read the full story.

Kudos on accomplishments

Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Wang, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director, Graduate Education, Dr. Zhijun “Kevin” Wang, Research Assistant Professor, Center for Advancement of Drug Research and Evaluation (CADRE) and Dr. Pat Chan, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Administration on their chapter:

Zhijun Wang, Patrick Chan and Jeffrey Wang, “The Preventive Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herbs on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” (DOI:10.1039/9781849737852-00268 ) in the Book “Traditional Chinese Medicine: Scientific Basis for Its Use” edited by Dr. James Adams and Eric Lien and published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK (http://www.rsc.org/Shop/books/2013/9781849736619.asp).

Dr. Sheryl Chow served as a panelist for a session at the recently held American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting in San Francisco. This session “Pharmacologic Pearls in Heart Failure” was one of the most well attended sessions at the meeting with more than 350 cardiologists in attendance.

Also at the ACC meeting, Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius presented the following research abstracts:

Jackevicius CA, Tu JV, Ross JS, Ko DT, de Leon N, Krumholz HM. Use of niacin in the United States and Canada. JACC 2013;

Dr. Jackevicius’ former resident, Noelle (a co-author) was interviewed by ACC Cardiosource media on camera about the study based on interest generated from a landmark niacin RCT with negative results that was presented earlier at the meeting.

Tsadok MA, Jackevicius CA, Rahme E, Essebag V, Eisenberg MJ, Humphries KH, Tu JV, Behlouli H, Pilote L Rural-urban disparities in warfarin treatment and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation. JACC 2013;

Tsadok MA, Jackevicius CA, Rahme E, Essebag V, Eisenberg MJ, Humphries KH, Tu JV, Behlouli H, Pilote L. Warfarin and the risk of stroke and bleeding in atrial fibrillation patients undergoing dialysis. JACC 2013;

Tsadok MA, Jackevicius CA, Rahme E, Essebag V, Eisenberg MJ, Humphries KH, Tu JV, Behlouli H, Pilote L. Stroke and bleeding in older patients with atrial fibrillation treated with warfarin. JACC 2013;

Ray Symposium to address obesity

The nation’s worsening obesity epidemic will be the topic of Western University of Health Sciences’ annual Ray Symposium, to be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 2013 in the Health Education Center, Lecture Hall 1, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766.

Keynote speaker Dr. Patricia Crawford, RD, director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, and a Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist, will present “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention.” Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Podiatric Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments

Assistant Dean and Associate Professor Kathleen Satterfield, DPM, FACFAOM, MAPWCA, will participate in the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC) Assessment Leadership Academy for 2013-14. The academy, which has a competitive application process, prepares campus professionals to provide leadership in the form of workshops, consultation, and guidance, and to support the scholarship of assessment at their institution, as well as other institutions. The Academy curriculum will include both structured and institutionally-tailored learning opportunities in the assessment of educational effectiveness, and it will address national issues in assessment, accreditation, and accountability. Click here to read more: http://www.wascsenior.org/ala/overview.

From the College of Optometry:

Kudos on accomplishments

The Australasian College of Behavioral Optometry (ACBO), the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), and the Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF) have announced the publication of a new journal, Optometry & Visual Performance (OVP).

OVP is an international, peer-reviewed journal that is dedicated to the functional, developmental, behavioral, and vision therapy aspects of optometry. It is designed to disseminate the science behind optometry’s role in the remediation, enhancement and rehabilitation of visual performance.

College of Optometry faculty members Dr. Chris Chase and Dr. Efrain Castellanos are members of the Journal’s Review Board Click here to view the first issue: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/88a2abf9#/88a2abf9/1

From the Office of University Student Affairs:

Like us on Facebook

WesternU Admissions is now on Facebook! “Like” our pages to stay current on Admissions, Recruitment, and University Student Affairs-related information and to connect with current and prospective students. The WesternU Admissions Facebook pages are an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about the programs offered at WesternU. Be sure to spread the word!

From the Office of University Recruitment/Strategic Enrollment Management:

Registration is open for WesternU Preview Day from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27, 2013, which highlights health education opportunities offered at Western University of Health Sciences.

Preview Day, held in and around WesternU’s Health Education Center (HEC), 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif., will provide potential students the opportunity to get more information about a health profession program of interest, hear about the admissions process, learn about financial aid, see curriculum firsthand, discover how to become a competitive applicant, and meet current students and faculty.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in learning more about any of our degree programs offered, please feel free to encourage them to visit our prospective student website for more information or to register for our Preview Day.

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