ECU graduates final HIM class
East Carolina University graduated its final class of Health Information Management students on May 10, 2013. From left, Faisal Olayan Alharbi, Ethel Lee Wright, Deniece N. Russell, Callie R. Woodard, Susan Michelle Haddock, Angela Marie Falsetti. Not pictured - DE students: Dawn Camden, Tina Charlton, and Lacey Williams. The graduation ended a long history of educating close to 600 health information management professionals. The Medical Records Administration department was created in 1970, with Mrs. Peggy Wood as the first chairperson. She remained in that position for 26 years. In 1993, the department was renamed Health Information Management. It was later expanded to include the BS in Health Services Management, and renamed the Department of Health Services and Information Management in 2002. Since its beginnings, more than ninety percent of the health information management professionals in eastern NC received a degree from ECU. The decision to discontinue the bachelor's degree is due to the change in health information technology. In the future, more emphasis will be placed on the sharing of medical information and computer specialists trained at the graduate level in health informatics will be needed. Accordingly, as one chapter closes, another will open through the MS in Health Informatics and Information Management. The first class of students will enter in fall 2013. May 2013
OT department will hold CarFit ECU's occupational therapy department will hold CarFit, a safety program that gives a quick, comprehensive check on how well a driver and his or her vehicle work together. The event will be held Saturday, April 6, from 8 a.m. until noon at Eastern Pines Church of Christ, 3380 Portertown Road, Greenville. No appointment needed. Geared at older adults but open to everyone, occupational therapy students and ECU Professor Anne Dickerson will lead drivers through a 12-point checklist, recommend car adjustments or adaptations and offer advice on what could make a car "fit" an owner better or enhance safety. Among the items checked: Is the person positioned correctly in the driver's seat? Can the person reach the pedals easily? Does the person know how to properly adjust mirrors to remove blind spots? CarFit was developed by the American Society on Aging, AAA, AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association. People over 65 are the fastest-growing population in the United States. By 2030, one in five drivers will be age 65 or older with more than 30 million older drivers on the road. Older drivers have the second highest rate of crashes in the nation, after teen-agers. QUESTIONS: Contact Dr. Anne Dickerson, dickersona@ecu.edu or 252-744-6199. March 2013
OT students achieve 100% pass rate Congratulations to the Occupational Therapy Class of 2012! They achieved a 100% pass rate on the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.
March 2013
Department of Health Services and Information Management received BB&T grant The Department of Health Services and Information Management has been awarded a second $10,000 grant from the BB&T Leadership Enhancement Fund titled "Health Care Leadership 2.0: Videos and Social Media for Leadership Development." Student teams in HSMA 3050 (Leadership in Health Care) will use social media tools to learn the strategy and practice of social media in health care by interviewing health care leaders in the field. The current teams will build on projects and information provided by the 2012 HSMA student teams to help them construct interview questions and identify which social media tools are best to conduct the interviews. The social media interviews will be recorded and posted on an on-line module on ECU Blackboard so that the team efforts may be made available to future health services and information management students. All activities during the project will be supervised and directed according to the ECU social media guidelines. Faculty members involved in the project include Drs. Leigh W. Cellucci, Michael Kennedy, Robert Kulesher, and Xiaoming Zeng. March 2013 PA studies achieves 100% pass rate Congratulations to the Physician Assistant Studies class of 2012! They achieved a 100% pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE). This class also ranked in the 95th percentile among all physician assistant schools in the nation on the PANCE. The mission of the Physician Assistant Studies Program is to provide educational experiences which prepare physician assistant graduates to enhance access to primary medical care for the citizens of rural and medically underserved Eastern North Carolina and beyond in an educational community where faculty, staff, clinical instructors, students and other health care providers work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation, compassion and commitment. February 2013 REHB student receives scholarship award Congratulations to Julie Turner, a student in the Rehabilitation Services program. She received The Vera and Chip Pennington Scholarship through her employer, Cypress Glen. Turner has worked as a host and server in the Cypress Glen Dining Room for the past three years. The $750 scholarship is based on school performance, work performance, a written essay and financial need. The Vera and Chip Pennington scholarship was created in 2007 by Charles "Chip" Pennington with his late wife, Vera, using returns he realized on investments he made after his retirement as customer service manager for Burroughs-Wellcome, Inc. On Monday, he presented scholarships to Turner and three other Cypress Glen employees to further their educational goals. Pennington is a resident at Cypress Glen. February 2013
Are Public Schools Safe?
Dr. Mark Stebnicki, PhD, reflects on the tragedy that took place in Connecticut and offers some advice for the Newtown residents, as well as parents with school-age children here in our community. The unspeakable acts of violence that have taken place December 14, 2012 in Newtown, CT has created extraordinary traumatic stress beyond comprehension for the parents, family, friends, and community of the victims and survivors of Sandy Hook Elementary school. The emotional aftershocks of this horrific event bring new meaning to the phrase "school violence." For the folks in Newtown, this must feel like the terrorist attacks of September 11th or the natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Sandy. Regardless of how close one is to the epicenter of either human-made or natural large-scale disasters we all grieve the emotional aftershocks of such critical events; even within the ECU community. It is unfortunate that some of us are continually being exposed and re-traumatized to the Sandy Hook shooting via television and in the print media. How can we possible begin the healing process? At this time, we are seeing "the tip of the iceberg" of this sinking mental, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual Titanic. As a consequence of December 14th, many parents of adolescents are feeling powerless and have extraordinary fears and anxiety of their own and are likely asking the significant question-- Are my children safe in their public school? The events of December 14th remind me of my own story of being involved in another school shooting that occurred on March 24, 1998 at the Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, AR. It was at this time an 11 and 13 year old shooter took the lives of four children and teacher and injured 15 others. I was a member of the crisis response team in Jonesboro where I lived and taught in the department of Psychology and Counseling at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro. This was an apocalyptic moment for this small quiet southern and very religious/spiritual community. My son and daughter attended the other middle school across town at the time of the Westside shootings. One of the most difficult issues to deal with as a parent is trying to answer the questions of "Are we safe?" During the time of the Westside shootings I remembered my 10 and 12 year old son and daughter asking me "daddy, is someone going to come to my school and shoot us?" Kids are naturally genuine and direct. Being a trained psychotherapist and having worked in rehabilitation and mental health for many years, I am supposed to have all the answers. But strangely I had to respond NOT as a mental health professional--but as a parent. I myself was feeling a high degree of empathy fatigue engaging in daily therapeutic interactions with the adolescents, parents, staff, and teachers of the Westside community. The most parsimonious, honest, and direct response I could give to my son and daughter is that "we are doing everything we can to make sure that this never happens again." I would never say to a Sandy Hook Elementary parent that "I know what you are going through" because I do not live in Newtown.I can only attest that I lived in a community where another unspeakable act of school violence took place that changed the lives of the children, parents, and community of Jonesboro. Events such as horrific school violence create a type of historical trauma to the local culture; much like slavery, extermination of minority cultures by the majority-dominate culture, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other extraordinary stressful and traumatic events. As for the community of Newtown, my most honest and direct response to you is that I am extremely sorry for the losses you have experienced. I can't imagine what it must feel like to live in this part of America. This horrific tragedy is too much for the rationale or analytical brain to comprehend. So, the only way we can understand this is from the emotional brain which can only being understood by our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual experience. It is okay that you are feeling a range of emotions of anger, extreme sadness, grief, loss, and trying to find meaning in how such a horrific incident could take place on our planet. Please be open to the idea that this is a normal reaction to an extremely abnormal critical event. As time goes on, you will likely never forget this trauma, but it won't always feel this intense. Everyone heals at their own rate, they find their own meaning, and discover ways in which to heal. We have the capacity to be resilient beyond our expectations and to live life optimally again. A crisis such as this will certainly test our coping abilities and resiliency skills. Improving the mental and physical health of children and adolescents is a complex problem that requires a paradigm shift on many levels. Researchers in adolescent mental health and youth risk factors suggest that children and adolescents are targeted and exploited with negative images of sexually graphic material, exposure to violence and abuse against women, children, persons with disabilities, persons that are gay, and many other cultures that are disenfranchised from mainstream America. Qualitatively, there is evidence that there is a general disrespect for authority and persons that are older. Many epidemiologists would state that the most significant risk factor of youth violence may be living in America. Unless the adolescent resides in the Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvania, they have likely been exposed to 26,000 murders on television alone by the time they have reach 18 years of age. More than 85% of high school students by the time they have reached their senior year have drank and experimented with illicit drugs. Overall, adolescents have been exposed to thousands of other graphic visual images of violence in moves, video games, and on the internet. It is important to consider it is more likely that children will be exposed to childhood obesity, diabetes, teen smoking, teen pregnancy, sexual abuse, substance abuse, pornography, and other acts of violence- at much higher rates than an act of school violence. This is no comfort to the parents of Newtown today. However, these are issues we will need to address that are at the foundation of our children and adolescents mind, body, and spirit. This is not time to listen to the experts "talk" about school violence and adolescent mental. Rather, this is a time to come together as a culture of compassion, empathy, faith, and hope that we can change the future of youth in our communities. Dr. Mark Stebnicki, PhD December 2012
Health Services Management program recertified
The undergraduate Health Services Management program has been recertified for six years and has retained Full Certified Undergraduate Membership status with the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). As noted by AUPHA, "… AUPHA has established a rigorous peer review process modeled for those programs willing to undergo the rigors of external review in the interest of program excellence. Successful completion of the panel review process leads to Certification by AUPHA and attainment of Full Certified Undergraduate membership status." The Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) is a global network of colleges, universities, faculty, individuals and organizations dedicated to the improvement of healthcare delivery through excellence in healthcare management and policy education. From an original membership of seven graduate programs in the US and Canada, it has grown to over 180 graduate and undergraduate programs in North America and hundreds of personal, corporate and affiliated program members all over the world. AUPHA is now an international consortium of graduate and undergraduate health administration programs and practitioners engaged in the development of health management education. Congratulations to the faculty and staff of the Department of Health Services and Information Management! November 2012 Occupational therapy students inducted into honor society
Eleven students were inducted into the Delta Beta Chapter of Pi Theta Epsilon honor society for occupational therapy students and alumni at a ceremony conducted on Monday, October 29 at the Health Sciences Building.
The induction marked the beginning of the very first chapter of PTE in North Carolina. There are currently over 80 active chapters nationwide.
Pi Theta Epsilon recognizes scholastic excellence of occupational therapy students, contributes to the advancement of the field of OT, and provides a vehicle for OT students to exchange information and collaborate regarding scholarly activities.
Dr. Denise Donica is the faculty advisor for the ECU chapter.
October 2012 Food Lion donation will endow scholarship
The highlight of the celebration was the announcement of Food Lion's donation of $25,000 to endow the Freedom Scholarship in Occupational Therapy.
The Freedom Scholarship was originally established by Nathan Black, a 2003 graduate of the occupational therapy program who passed away in 2011. It provides support to ECU OT students who are military members, veterans, spouses or children of a military member or veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States. It also includes students who are working with Wounded Warrior Battalion initiatives.
Pictures from the Homecoming Celebration
Department Will Host Open House
The Department of Clinical Laboratory Science will be having its annual Fall Open House program on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm, in the Mendenhall Student Center room 14. This program will introduce interested students to the B.S. degree program in Clinical Laboratory Science, Clinical Laboratory Science minors and the dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Clinical Laboratory Science. Refreshments will be served.
Dean's Awards Presented at CAHS Convocation
The ECU College of Allied Health Sciences held its annual Faculty and Staff Convocation on Monday, August 20, 2012. Annual awards for outstanding performance in the areas of Teaching, Service, Research, and Outstanding Staff Personnel were given by Dr. Stephen Thomas, Dean. Awards were presented to: - Outstanding Teaching: Dr. Kathy Cox, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disoreders - Outstanding Service: Dr. Jason Brinkley, Dept. of Biostatistics - Outstanding Research: Dr. Jane Painter, Dept. of Occupational Therapy - Outstanding Staff Personnel: Kathy Benitez, Dept. of Occupational Therapy The awards were largely based on work done over the last year (July 1 - June 30) with consideration given to work completed in the preceding three years. Congratulations to our award winners!
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