Daily Archives: May 20, 2016

Kovach Spreads ‘Disney Magic,’ Heads to College Program

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Recent Belmont exercise science graduate Beau Kovach will trade his cap and gown for a new costume this summer as he transforms into an entertainment performer in the Disney College Program. Beginning later this summer, Kovach will join other college students and new graduates who share a similar passion, making people smile.

Growing up as a self-proclaimed “Disney child,” Kovach’s mother worked at a Disney store and gained traits and attributes that Kovach always admired. “The Walt Disney Company has the ability to elicit an unprovoked, natural happiness, and that is something that I would love to contribute to on a daily basis,” he said. “I cannot wait to be a reason why families, including my own, will have memories of a lifetime just from a small interaction.”

College ProgramKovach visited Disney World during his audition process and found a fraternity brother with similar dreams. The two, among many other applicants, have stayed in touch throughout their Disney journey and look forward to experiencing the program together. As a committed member of his brotherhood, Kovach said he is very grateful to continue to make connections with brothers from across the country while at Disney.

Though his time as a performer at the world renowned park will fulfill a lifelong dream, Kovach looks to other things for his ultimate career aspirations. He’d like to become a physical therapist, specializing in pediatric athletes, so the experience of working with families will provide opportunities to engage with children in a special way—the “Disney way,” Kovach said. “This happy place is a tangible location where people can come and forget about pettiness and let go of debilitating insignificant problems with work or silly arguments or all these tiny things that make our society so high strung and stressed out. Not everyone may believe in ‘Disney magic’ or ‘pixie dust,’ but you know the feeling when it hits you.”

For Kovach, spreading the “magic” is enough to move to Orlando, Florida and spend his first few months as a college graduate entertaining the world with the sights and sounds of Disney.

Pharmacy professor leads antibiotic stewardship program at Williamson Medical Center recognized in national report

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WilliamsMediumDr. Montgomery Williams, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, is providing leadership to an effort at Williamson Medical Center (WMC) in Franklin, Tennessee to curb unnecessary antibiotic use, an initiative recently recognized in a report published by The Pew Charitable Trusts.  Dr. Williams was quoted earlier this week by The Tennessean in a story about the success of the antibiotic program.

Dr. Williams serves at Williamson Medical Center as part of her teaching responsibilities at Belmont University College of Pharmacy, educating PharmD students in their advanced practice experiences at the medical center during their final year of study.   As an internal medicine and antibiotic stewardship pharmacist at WMC, she provides extensive training in general medicine to students throughout the year as they complete month-long rotations at the medical center.  Like all Pharmacy Practice faculty in the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Williams divides her time between the classroom at Belmont and her community site where she mentors student pharmacists who are near completion of their doctoral degree.  Those students participate in the antibiotic program during their rotation with Dr. Williams.

At Williamson Medical Center, where Dr. Williams has practiced for the past six years, she is the co-chair of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program along with Dr. Shaefer Spires, an antibiotic stewardship physician and hospital epidemiologist.  Other health professionals involved in the program at WMC include Dr. Courtney (Curtis) Sutton, pediatric pharmacist (2013 PharmD graduate from Belmont); Dr. Michael Wright, critical care pharmacist; and Dr. Tracey Bastian, clinical pharmacy manager.  In her role as chair, Dr. Williams coordinates ongoing efforts to evaluate how the hospital prescribes antibiotics and work with physicians in developing appropriate treatment plans for patients.   “Presenting recommendations to physicians can be challenging — you really have to work together as a team,”  Williams said in the Tennessean. “We always want what’s best for the patient.”

Also quoted in the Tennessean was Dr. David Hyun, senior officer of Pew Charitable Trusts’ antibiotic resistance project, which published the report. “Williamson Medical Center is a great example of how a program can be tailored to the needs of a community hospital,” said Hyun, who developed and co-chaired a stewardship program at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.  “Efforts to use antibiotics appropriately are not only about reducing resistance but ensuring patients get the right care.”

The full report can be found at http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2016/04/a-path-to-better-antibiotic-stewardship-in-inpatient-settings.

Belmont University School of Nursing Named on Top 50 List

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Belmont’s School of Nursing was recently included on NursingSchoolsAlmanac.com’s top nursing schools list for 2016. With data collected from 3,200 institutions across the nation, 10 percent of schools are included on the organization’s list.

Belmont was ranked No. 28 in the “Top 50 School in the Southeast” (top 3 percent of schools considered) and No. 62 among private nursing schools on the “Top 100 Nursing Schools” list (in the top 5 percent of all schools considered) .