Students from the Social Welfare Policy & Services II class recently competed in the poster presentation contest at the Tennessee Legislature during the 2010 Social Work Day on the Hill. Their policy analysis, “Restorative Justice for Some,” won first prize. Congratulations to these students: Andrew Aichele, Michelle Barnett, Katie Czerwinski, Shauna Daniels, Amy Dunning, Stephanie Hall, Cheyenne Metzger, Tom Rigsby, Lindsay Sechser, Serena Sherrill, Emma Shouse and Courtney Weeks.
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Pine Ridge 2010 Cultural Experiences
The 2010 spring cultural activities trip is a key part of the Belmont-Pine Ridge Community Partnership. It is an important phase in the building of ongoing relationships and sustainable activities between Belmont University and the communities of the Lakota (Sioux) people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
During the week of May 16-23, participants will immerse in an educational experience led by Leonard Little Finger and Basil Brave Heart, traditional Lakota elders and experienced educators of the Pine Ridge community. Selected participants include a variety of members of the Belmont community of students, faculty, staff, and friends. During the 6 days on site, participants will immerse in educational experiences where they will learn the beauty and strengths of traditional Lakota ways and reflect on whether the lessons learned have relevance for them personally and for modern times.
Readings, lectures, and discussions both at Belmont and at Pine Ridge will cover the significance of history and policies, spirituality and religion, relationship to nature, ceremonies, language, dance and music, cultural ways that are specific to the Lakota people, and the role of the Belmont and Pine Ridge as partners. Activities include a number of visits to sacred and historical sites (Wounded Knee, Black Hills, Badlands, etc.) and participation in a sweat lodge prayer ceremony. A special emphasis will be placed on studying the cultures of the Lakota as a way of developing individual cultural competence. Healthy cultural competence includes an understanding of our own prejudices and worldviews as well as those of others and the ability to communicate effectively with peoples of other cultures.
Dr. Liotta-Kleinfeld to be Inducted into AOTA Roster of Fellows
Dr. Lorry Liotta-Kleinfeld will be inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows at the 2010 AOTA conference in Orlando, Fla., on May 1. The Roster of Fellows recognizes occupational therapist members of the AOTA, who with their knowledge and expertise, have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of members of the association. Dr. Kleinfeld’s award is in recognition for advancing occupational therapy education. This prestigious honor has been awarded to less than 1 percent of practicing occupational therapists since its inception in the 1960s.
From third-year PT student Kelly Ehlert. . . .
I am currently finishing up my third rotation in inpatient rehab here in Searcy, Arkansas. When people find out I’m not from Arkansas and don’t have to be here, they always ask…so was it your choice to come here or were you made to? I always would state something about having to get certain rotations done and not having a place to do it in TN that I wouldn’t have to drive to the moon and back for each day. I would also throw in there the fact that there is great Trout fishing in the rivers and my husband encouraged me to come here to check it out (secretly he had spring break during this time and I knew he wanted to fish for free the whole week).
Anyways, long story short, I came to a place where I really only knew a few people which was also in the middle of nowhere! However, not only has this rotation given me the confidence in myself that all my hard work through the semesters has paid off and that I just might know enough, but it’s also given me time to grow in other ways.
PT Alum featured in People Magazine for work in Haiti
Jennifer Watters, an ’06 Belmont DPT alum, was featured in an article in the April 12, 2010 People Magazine. Jennifer is currently volunteering with Handicap-International, US for three months. She began her work in early March.
You can read her journal posts by clicking the “.Jen Watters Haiti Blog” link to the left.
Here’s the link for the story from People and the content of that article is below:
MAKING AMPUTEES FEEL WHOLE AGAIN
– JENNIFER WATTERS, 28
Jennifer Watters places a wrap around the stump that had been 21-year-old Lundia Jacques’ lower right leg. “Keep it tighter at the bottom,” Watters counsels Lundia, whose dreams of becoming a flight attendant were shattered when, while she was ironing, “my house fell on me.”
Few images capture a country’s agony better than the dozens of men, women and children with missing limbs who line up every day at the makeshift clinic Watters runs for the nonprofit Handicap International. And few people represent the outpouring of kindness that has flowed into Haiti better than Watters, a gregarious volunteer physical therapist who saw images of the quake on the news and thought, “God put this in front of me.” Never having been to a disaster zone, she quit her hospital job in Alexandria, Va., and arrived on March 3 in Port-au-Prince for a three-month stint.
These days she rises at 7 a.m., splitting her time between the clinic and tent cities, treating patients and training local staff. Every Sunday she attends mass outside the ruins of a once-glorious cathedral. “I cry a lot there,” she says. “That [Haitians] can be surrounded by destruction and yet sing and have a sense of peace. . . . It gets to you.”
Giorgianni’s white paper part of national campaign
School of Pharmacy professor, Dr. Salvatore Giorgianni, in his role as Scientific Advisor to Men’s Health Network, has written a white paper on unapproved drugs as part of a new public education initiative to raise awareness about the risks associated with prescribing and taking unapproved drugs that have not been subjected to the rigorous Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) review process. Dr. Giorgianni’s comments about the “Know the Facts” campaign are included in a news story that is being picked up by media outlets nationwide. See the full story by clicking here.
Haiti Update #8
Jen Watters Haiti Blog
Sunday, April 25 at 10:04pm
Salut!!
Kiman ou ye? How are you? I hope that this finds everyone well!! I can believe that I am finishing my 8th week in Haiti already!! Two months is along time, and while sometimes it is hard to remember life before Haiti, the time here really does go by quickly as well and this week was no exception!
First of all, thank you so much for all of the Birthday and the get well wishes. After I slept all day on Monday, I really did feel much better. My housemates surprised me Monday night with a cake and small party, and I even managed to eat a piece with no problem – there was no way I was going to miss out on my birthday cake, stomach bug or not!!! It really was a good Birthday!
Dahlgren One of Three Finalists for Chaney Award
Congratulations to School of Nursing professor Lucyellen Dahlgren who is one of three finalists for the 2009-10 Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, the highest honor presented annually to a faculty member at Belmont University. More than 90 faculty members were nominated for this year’s award which will be presented …at graduation ceremonies on May 15th. Learn more about Lucyellen at her profile page linked here. Again, congratulations and good luck Lucyellen!
Haiti Update #7
Jen Watters Haiti Blog
Monday, April 19, 2010 at 4:40pm
Bon Fete! Bon Anniversarie! Happy Birthday!
First of all, thanks so much to everyone for all of the wonderful Birthday wishes!! It’s been a very interesting birthday and a very interesting week in Haiti. We started the weekend and the Birthday festivities off with a big party at one of the HI houses. There were three other people celebrating birthdays this weekend and one of them leaving this week – so we had quite a celebration! There was lots of food, drinks and DANCING!! It was so much fun!! I think I was in the first group of people to leave, which was at 2 am!! See, I’m not too old to stay out late (occasionally).
Belmont PT Graduates Achieve Distinction – 100% of 2009 Class Pass Licensure Exam on First Attempt
Belmont University has recently learned that 100% of graduates who received doctoral degrees from the School of Physical Therapy in 2009 have successfully passed, on their first attempt, the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). This is the second time in the history of the program that an entire class has passed the exam on their first attempt, although Belmont graduates have achieved ultimate pass rates of 100% on the exam for the past 8 years. Individuals must pass the examination to receive certification or licensure as a physical therapist in the United States.
The national completion rate for the NPTE in 2008 (the latest year for which this data is available to the public) was 85%. A new passing standard was implemented in 2008 by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) who developed and administer the examination. Belmont University is one of five institutions in the state of Tennessee that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
Haiti Update #6
Jen Watters Haiti Blog
Sunday at 6:37pm
Alo! (Hi!) – I think I might run out of different greetings soon, but I’ll keep trying to give you a variety! =)
It’s strange how time is going so quickly and yet from Sunday to Sunday when I write my updates seems like an eternity. I guess because the weeks are so full it seems like it must have surely been more than a week that’s gone by.
I started off the week by amusing the local staff as I greeted everyone with a “Joyeus Paques” (Happy Easter) on Monday morning. My accent must have been pretty bad – it took five or six tries before most of them figured out what I was saying, but it was worth the effort as I was usually rewarded with a pretty big smile!
Safari 2
Dr. Ruby Dunlap’s Uganda Fulbright Blog
From March 15 through 18 we took our second safari, traveling west and south to Queen Elizabeth Game Park and then to the far southwest corner of Uganda where it meets Rwanda and Congo. The road between Kampala and Mityana was dirt and bone-jarring; it has been under construction for about seven years. From Mityana westward was a smooth, paved road, steadily climbing in elevation until we reached the lush tea and matooke plantations of Fort Portal. Beyond Fort Portal were the majestic Renzori Mountains, the Mountains of the Moon.
We descended into the Western Rift Valley south from Fort Portal, traveling with the Renzoris on our right and passing matooke-laden bicycles like this one. One could feel the heat increasing from the cool mountain air of Fort Portal to hot, dusty Kasese. Just south of Kasese, we stopped to take photos at the Equator and pass from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere.
Scholten Elected Chair of Tennessee Social Work Educators Association
Dr. Lorraina Scholten, associate professor of social work was elected to serve as chairperson of the Tennessee Social Work Educators Association at their February 2010 meeting. The association is comprised of 14 member universities from across the state currently providing accredited social work education at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.
The association operates as a collaboration with the Tennessee chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the Tennessee Center for Child Welfare. The focus of the association is to improve quality of life by impacting the quality and scope of professional social work education in Tennessee. This is a three-year appointment.
PT Alum shares about her experience in Haiti
From Abby Witcher (DPT ’09)…..in a recent note to classmates and Gail Bursch, Abby wrote:
I have been meaning to share with you about an opportunity that some of you may really enjoy. I went to Haiti to do some relief work and physical therapy with the survivors of the earthquake. I worked in an orphanage with post-op ortho kids as well as worked at a tent hospital that Miami Hospital with adults and children. Anyhow, it was an amazing experience of make-do PT and a mess of surroundings. So many had such incredibly sad stories, especially the children.
All this to say, there are so many countless opportunities for physical therapists, especially now as people are coming out of casts, external fixators and amputees may be getting their prosthesis. I worked with a group called, MercyWorks, but another group is looking for PTs to come help. Please let me know if this sounds interesting to any of you. Email me and I will send you a website for more information.
If interested in this opportunity, let us know and we’ll put you in contact with Abby.
Money Matters
Dr. Ruby Dunlap’s Uganda Fulbright Blog
Kampala and larger Ugandan cities and towns are full of well-dressed folks busy with cell phones and other electronic devices. The streets buzz with vehicles, bodas, and the press of business. Yes, it is a developing country but “develop” is a dynamic word and Uganda is a dynamic country by what the eye can see. Happy hour billboards and slick-paged magazines like “The African Woman,” (http://www.africanwomanmagazine.net/) communicate universal issues of modern life: family, fashion, business, romance, work and leisure. There seems to be a certain cosmopolitan sameness to the world’s urban centers. Perhaps that is where we are all headed in the end: vast cities stratified by economically defined neighborhoods: the posh gated communities, the rows of industrial looking apartment complexes, and the slums.
Haiti Update #5
Jen Watters Haiti Blog
Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 7:27pm
Joyeuses Pâques ! Happy Easter !
What a full and blessed week. I don’t think that I will be able to write everything down, but I’m going to try and hopefully it won’t be TOO long! =)
First of all, I want to share with everyone the very good news that my tetraplegic patient was accepted into Miami University’s hospital here in Haiti on Tuesday and we were able to transfer him over there on Thursday with the help of IOM (another NGO that organizes medical transport). It was so amazing, I just called on Tuesday morning and spoke with the coordinator and he said, “Sure, when can you send him over?” I was shocked. And everything came together so smoothly. The administration of the current hospital, the doctors, his family and the transport – it all worked out perfectly. Bon Dieu Bon!! God is so good! So thank you for all your prayers!! I wish that everyone could have seen the smile on his face and on the faces of his wife and daughters, for the first time in a long time they had some hope. I cannot even begin to express how happy it made my heart!!
MSN Grads extend “pass” streak for certification exam to six years
All of the most recent Belmont MSN graduates have passed the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Family Nurse Practitioner certification exam on their first attempt. This is the sixth consecutive year that graduates of the School of Nursing’s MSN program have achieved a 100% first-attempt success rate on the national certification exam.
ANCC is the world’s largest and most prestigious nurse credentialing organization, and a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA). ANCC certification is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies and the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification. Their exams are a fair and accurate measure of professional competency. ANCC board certified nurses have met strong professional development standards, are in the greatest demand and command the highest salaries. Certification is accepted by governing boards, insurers, and the military.
The Master of Science in Nursing at Belmont University can be completed in 16 months attending full-time or in 28 months attending part-time. The director of the program, Dr. Leslie Higgins, has been an integral part of the program since its inception in 1994.
PT Student steps up for Special Kids
Katie Ritz, a second year physical therapy student, shares about some extra steps taken in her recent clinical at Special Kids. . . .
While doing my clinical at Special Kids in Murfreesboro, I was asked by my course instructor to think of an inservice or project that would identify a need at the clinic. I noticed that while working with the children, we often used stairs as a strengthening technique, but the 8 in stairs were too high for many of the kids. The therapists would improvise and use benches to create steps that were not as high, but the benches were not secure, and made a safety issue. I enlisted the assistance of my husband, and with the space guidelines from Special Kids, we designed the staircase with 4 3″ steps and 2 6″ steps and handrails at two different heights. My husband and I donated the material and built the steps in a weekend. It is a great feeling to know that the stairs now sit in Special Kids’ main gym and are utilized on a daily basis by many children!
OT Students Announce Pediatric Research Study
Belmont Occupational Therapy students Jessica Deal, Carleigh Evans, and Julie Kluska have announced a research study to assess the perceived need for pediatric aquatic therapy in Middle Tennessee. The study is being conducted under the supervision of two OT professors, Dr. Lorry Liotta-Kleinfeld and Dr. Jeanne Sowers.
The students are recruiting practicing pediatric occupational therapists to participate in the study through an anonymous and confidential survey.