More than 100 Belmont School of Nursing faculty and students and approximately 50 College of Pharmacy students and faculty staffed what Nashville Mayor John Cooper called a “watershed moment” for the city as it hosted a mass vaccination event on March 20 at Nissan Stadium.
Joining forces with city health officials and volunteers, Belmont representatives aided in 10,000 people receiving their Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination by the end of the event.
College of Pharmacy students Austin Bailey and Xrystina Bicoy
Every year, hundreds of pharmacy students apply for the Air Force Health Profession Scholarship, but only four awards are granted nationally. Belmont junior pharmacy students Austin Bailey and Xrystina Bicoy were among two of the four nationally selected students to be awarded this competitive scholarship.
The scholarship includes two years of paid tuition and the commissioned officer rank of the second lieutenant throughout pharmacy school. Once Bailey and Bicoy graduate, the scholarship will require them to complete three years of active duty service which follows a five-week training course post-graduation.
“For Austin and Xrystina to both be selected for the Air Force Health Professions Scholarships sends a tremendous message about their character and the type of students we are blessed to have in our program. Our College of Pharmacy has a foundational value of service and we are grateful for their commitment to their education in serving patients and how they will serve our country in the Air Force in the near future,” said Dr. David Gregory, dean of the College of Pharmacy.
After their training program, Bailey and Bicoy will be assigned to a base depending on their duty which can range from hospital pharmacy to managing an outpatient clinic. The scholarship is highly competitive and will provide the select few students with opportunities to further their experience.
Riguin Zengotita Borges, a fourth-year student in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, was recognized by the Office of the United States Surgeon General for his significant contributions to advancing the goals of Healthy People 2030. To be considered for the award, students are evaluated on their contributions towards voluntary health-related services, an emerging public health issue or contributions to the National Prevention Strategy.
Over the past four years, his dedication to maintaining health in medically underserved communities here in Nashville has been tremendous. Borges has worked with populations that are vulnerable — the homeless, the HIV infected and the elderly. Early on in the pandemic, he seized opportunities to be on the front line testing patients for COVID-19 at a center for underserved and indigent patients.
Drs Elisa Green and Jamie Adam
Associate Professors Dr. Elisa Greene, from Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, and Dr. Jamie Adam, from Belmont’s School of Nursing, were recently selected for the 2021-23 cohort of The Lilly Faculty Fellows Program through the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities. The program is designed for mid-career faculty leaders across the disciplines to creatively engage the intersections of Christian thought and practice with the academic vocation.
The initiative’s goals are to refresh and enliven a sense of calling for participants as people of faith, as teachers and as scholars and to provide funds for Fellows to develop and pilot Faculty Fellow programs on their own campuses.
Amazon Alexa is a voice controlled artificial intelligence (A.I.) platform that has the ability to provide information upon request. As part of the Introduction to Healthcare Informatics concentration in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Belmont, April Pepper, Phuong Truong and Karen Le worked as a team to develop different applications, or “skills,” that are now available in the Alexa store.
The skill, “Drug Wizard,” was created to help pharmacy students study the brand and generic names of the top 300 medications currently prescribed in the United States. “Diabetes Goals Quiz” is another skill that was created. Its purpose is to help students study the American Diabetes Association diabetic goals. The “Thyroid information” skill was created to help students grasp introductory lecture material for this topic. This material was based on clinical practice guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Thyroid Association. The information in these skills are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They are not a substitute for professional medical advice, treatment or diagnosis.
Belmont University School of Nursing is pleased to provide an exciting new opportunity for students. High achieving BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) students are now eligible to get a head start on an advanced nursing degree from Belmont by completing approved graduate level courses within their undergraduate program of study. The Early Entry Program provides opportunity to earn up to 14 credits toward either a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or Master of Science in Nursing, saving students time and money in a graduate degree designed to prepare them to be Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP).
Eligible students must meet qualification requirements by the midpoint of their sophomore year to participate in the program during their junior and senior years. Students have the potential to complete a full semester of graduate coursework while at the same time earning undergraduate credit toward their BSN degree.
Photo from VUMC Voice by Donn Jones
Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently honored Belmont DPT alumna Grace Cronin with their Credo Award which recognizes an employee who provides excellence in healthcare, research and education; who treats others as we wish to be treated; and who continuously evaluates and improves their performance.
Dr. Cronin graduated from Belmont’s DPT program in 2016 and then completed the Pediatrics Residency offered jointly by Vanderbilt and Belmont in 2017. Her residency led to a position in Pediatric Rehabilitation Services for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as a physical therapist with a specialty in pediatric oncology, where she now serves with distinction.
Dr. Gary Austin, Chair of Belmont University School of Physical Therapy, acknowledged, “For years, we have touted ‘our students and our graduates are our credentials’ and Dr. Cronin is a true representative of that ideal.”
You won’t want to miss the story and video linked here by the VUMC Voice which highlights Dr. Cronin’s exemplary service.
Dr. Angela Lane, Associate Professor of Nursing at Belmont, was recently recognized as the 2021 Walk to Cure Arthritis Adult Honoree with the Arthritis Foundation. As a current associate professor of Nursing, Lane has worked for the past 30 years as a nurse tech, registered nurse and advanced practice nurse.When Lane was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age eight and then again at age 20, she recognized a passion for giving back to this community. Through her experience with arthritis, she has demonstrated selflessness as she continues to serve others in the Arthritis Foundation community.
Lane is currently on the board with the Nashville Arthritis Local Leadership Board and has just commenced her work as chair. In addition to her work with this community, she serves as the Pediatric Clinical Course Coordinator at Belmont and continues to educate nursing students.
Many dedicated, hard-working individuals leave their imprint on a profession, but few are deserving enough to have both a scholarship and an award established in their honor. Belmont University School of Nursing alumna Patty Cornwell is one of the deserving ones.
Cornwell, a retired certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), devoted her professional career to providing exceptional anesthesia care to patients for surgery, labor and delivery, and other healthcare needs, and she devoted her spare time to serving the nurse anesthesia profession she loved. After graduating from Belmont, she worked for several years as an intensive care nurse before entering the Middle Tennessee School of Nurse Anesthesia to become a nurse anesthetist. She joined the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) in 1972 and the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists (TANA) in 1976.
Courtesy of WSMV
Fourth year pharmacy students Bassel Alhashemi and Patty Hernandez were recently featured in a news report on WSMV News4 Nashville, an NBC affiliate, about their work in administering COVID vaccines at Siloam Health in Nashville. Siloam Health serves uninsured and underserved individuals in the Nashville community.
Siloam Health is one of over a dozen practice sites where Belmont Pharmacy students apprentice with a full-time Belmont faculty member. Dr. Elisa Greene, Associate Professor, is part of the health team at Siloam and teaches students there in one-month clinical rotations throughout the year.
After years of hard work and determination to making her dreams a reality, Belmont alumna Jennifer Pacileo has succeeded in opening her own clinic – Southern Pediatric Therapy.
As freshman at Arkansas State University, Pacileo accepted a position at an outpatient pediatric clinic, owned by another Belmont alumna, to clean bathrooms, file papers, schedule patient appointments and answer the phones. The moment she started the position and saw the impact of occupational therapy on a child’s life, she knew she not only wanted to be an occupational therapist, but she also wanted to own her own clinic. Two years later, as a junior in college, she wrote her business plan for Southern Pediatric Therapy.
Due to financial hardships, Jennifer was unable to finish her degree at Arkansas State and had to return home. She applied to and graduated from the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program at Concorde Career College and set her next goals of finding employment and working to apply to the Bridge Program at Belmont University.
Belmont University has earned the 2021-2022 Military Friendly® School designation for the seventh consecutive year. Belmont was highly rated on culture and commitment, admissions and orientation and academic policies and compliance.
“It’s an honor to once again receive this designation that recognizes Belmont’s commitment to support our student veterans and military family members,” said Dr. Mimi Barnard, associate provost for Interdisciplinary Studies and Global Education, home to Belmont’s Veteran Success Team. “Belmont faculty and staff are intentional in their goal of providing educational environments that support student veterans and military family members in meaningful ways.”
Dr. John Maneno, second year Drug Information Fellow in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, has accepted an offer to work for IBM. His new role will be part of IBM Watson Health but more specifically within the Micromedex Suite as a clinical content specialist.Maneno began his fellowship program with Belmont University College of Pharmacy in conjunction with Aegis Sciences Corporation in the summer of 2019 after his graduation from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s College of Pharmacy. He has spent time as part of Belmont’s faculty within the College of Pharmacy and also as a drug information pharmacist at the Christy Houston Drug Information Center and Aegis.
During his time at Belmont, Maneno published an article on Annals of Pharmacotherapy, had multiple podium presentations at national conferences, and a poster presentation. Genevieve Engle, PharmD and Andrew Holt, PharmD, directors of the fellowship program, continue to set up the fellows for success by ensuring 100 percent post-fellowship job placements.
The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame announced today that the nomination process for the class of 2021 has officially opened. Nominations may be submitted at www.tnhealthcarehall.com through March 24.Created by Belmont University, and supported by founding partners The McWhorter Society and The Nashville Health Care Council, the Hall of Fame’s mission is to honor the men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industry. The Health Care Hall of Fame seeks to recognize and honor pioneers and current leaders who have formed Tennessee’s health and health care community and encourage future generations of health care professionals.