2010 Mission Trip to Cambodia
from Chelsea Stevens
Guatemala Missions Trip 2010
2010 Mission Trip to Guatemala
On Sunday, we leave for Guatemala City, Guatemala for the 2010 Guatemala Missions Trip. There are a total of 32 students and clinicians going on the trip this year in a variety of fields such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and nursing. For a handful of students going, it will be their first time out of the U.S. We are excited for this wonderful opportunity to serve others and we appreciate all of the support and prayers as we travel almost 1500 miles.
Pharmacy Students Embark on Pine Ridge Trip
2010 Trip to Pine Ridge Lakota Indian Reservation
Six students from the Belmont University School of Pharmacy and myself, Dr. Mark Chirico will leave for Pine Ridge, SD on May 16, 2010 to engage in cultural learning experiences on the Lakota Indian reservation. This will be the first time that the pharmacy program will have such a large representation on this annual trip.
A total of 18 participants will begin the mission of “Okiciyapi” which is Lakota for “Helping One Another”. We look forward to partnering with several tribal elders, including Leonard Little Finger and Basil Brave Heart to learn of the health needs of the Lakota people. We will have the unique opportunity at the end of this trip to interact with community members to discuss their medication issues. Follow us on this blog to keep up with our adventure!
A Snapshot of the Trip
2010 Mission Trip to Cambodia
from Susan Taplin
Today we leave Nashville for our 6th trip to Cambodia! We are so grateful to each of you who sacrifice time with loved ones so we can go make a difference in the lives of poor and needy in Cambodia. This year there are 5 nursing students going along with Sharon, Keary and I.
Our first stop is Hanoi Vietnam where we will visit Halong Bay and other cultural sites. We will use this time to bond as a group and recover from the long flights and 12 hour time difference. We get there on Saturday around 11AM. We should be able to email/post a blog entry while there. Not sure about phone calls.
We head into Phnom Penh on Tuesday the 18th around 8AM and will be there until the weekend. For the two weekends we are there, we will be visiting a village on one and going to Siem Reap for the other. The plans are not yet finalized for which weekend we will be doing which.
MSN Grads Perfect Again
For the sixth consecutive year, Belmont University graduates from the master’s program for Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP) have achieved a 100 percent first time pass rate on the advanced practice nursing examination for family nurse practitioners, administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
ANCC, the world’s largest and most prestigious nurse credentialing organization, recently announced that the overall first time pass rate for the FNP exam was 93% in 2009. Belmont School of Nursing graduates did particularly well in the exam sections that measured assessment of acute and chronic illness, research, and health promotion and disease prevention, exceeding the mean scores of all test-takers in these areas.
More than a quarter million nurses have been certified by ANCC since 1990 and over 80,000 advanced practice nurses are currently certified by ANCC. ANCC certification is accepted by governing boards throughout the United States, as well as insurers and the military. The program validates nurses’ skills, knowledge and abilities, and empowers nurses within their professional sphere while contributing to better patient outcomes.
Haiti Update #9 (lost but now found!)
Jen Watters Mission to Haiti
Tuesday, May 11th, at 8:57pm
So I forgot to post this on the 3rd when I wrote it, then I couldn’t find it – turns out I had accidently deleted it and it was hiding in my “trash” folder – oops!! I guess my brain was on vacation too!!
Hello everyone!! Bonswa tout moun!!
I was thinking that I should have sent out my email on Saturday this week, since we had the day off, but the power was not really cooperating. Yesterday was my travel day and now I am on my little vacation in Les Cayes in the South of Haiti. I will tell you a little bit about the past week and then save my vacation stories for next week, but I will tell you it has been wonderful so far!!
Haiti Update #10
Jenifer Watters Mission to Haiti Blog
May 9 at 8:10pm
Wow!! I’m now up to double digits!!!
I hope that this finds everyone well. For some reason I can’t find my Haiti update #9 and I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, so I apologize if I am redundant. I also just realized I never posted it here either, so when I find it I’ll put it up!
I am back in Port-au-Prince now after a wonderful week of vacation! I spent the week at Pwoje Espwa, which is an orphanage just outside of Les Cayes in the south part of Haiti. It was such a great week!! My friend Linda runs the guest house there, so I stayed on the property with them. It was perfect timing as they were in between groups and I was really the only extra person around. I got to sleep in a real bed, with a real pillow and since I was the only person in the room I pointed BOTH fans right at me at night – it was wonderfully ridiculous!
Dr. Debra Wollaber selected for Distinguished Nursing Alumnus Award at Hartwick
Belmont University School of Nursing Professor, Dr. Debra Wollaber, has been selected to receive the Distinguished Nursing Alumnus Award by Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. The award honors a select few who represent the best of nursing through their contributions to practice, research, education, and/or service. Dr. Wollaber received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Hartwick in 1973.
Dr. Wollaber began her tenure at Belmont as an adjunct assistant professor in 1988 while completing her doctorate in child and family studies at Syracuse University. She became Dean of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing in 1997, a position she held for a decade until moving back to full-time teaching in 2007.
In commenting about her alma mater, Dr Wollaber says, “Hartwick is a special place for me. I really don’t think my career would have taken the trajectory it has without the solid, fine foundation that Hartwick gave me.”
The presentation of the award will occur at the Nurses’ Pinning Ceremony for Hartwick at the end of May, at which Dr. Wollaber will present the keynote address to the college’s graduating seniors.
Pharmacy Students Serve Ronald McDonald House
Belmont University School of Pharmacy Class of 2013 recently made two visits to the Ronald McDonald House in Nashville. Approximately 20 student volunteers went on two occasions to prepare lunch for the Ronald McDonald House. RMH provides living arrangements and adequate food to families that have children receiving medical treatments far from home and strives to provide a home-away-from-home comfort for these families. The student pharmacists at BUSOP were delighted to learn more about RMH and the residing families through conversations over spaghetti and meatballs or by playing with the children in the playroom, all while helping to serve the families and make their stay in Nashville more enjoyable. BUSOP Class of 2013 hopes to make these volunteer lunches for RMH a monthly project that continues to grow as a way of service and outreach to the Nashville community.
Social Work Students Win State-Wide Policy Contest
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.
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!!