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Department News
Messages for our alumni, from the department chairs. DEPARTMENT NEWS
Athletic Training (AT) Chair: Vicci Hill-Lombardi, EdD, ATC The Department of Athletic Training has experienced an amazing amount of challenges and change in the past 18 months. While we graduated 21 new AT practitioners in May, we advanced 22 to the second year of study. In July, we welcomed a small but promising class of nine new students. And while our five-year reign of 100 percent first-attempt pass rate (Classes 2014 through 2018) came to an end, we have maintained our 100 percent overall pass rate.
Another area that proved challenging was the transition to the new IHSC facility. Beginning with packing up the classrooms and labs at the end of the Spring 2018 semester, we then moved during the Summer I semester, while classes were still in session on the South Orange Campus. Our incoming first-year students attended orientation during the second week in July, while we were still finding our way around the new building, figuring out how all the new technology worked, and how to now share all the common resources. However, we rapidly overcame any difficulties with the teamwork that alumni are accustomed to witnessing from the AT faculty. Also, the new facility presented an amazing amount of new opportunities – learning through Standardized Patient interactions, high-fidelity manikin simulation and state-of-the-art equipment. While all this was going on, the CAATE Self-Study was completed and submitted by July 1, 2018, and our Accreditation Site Visit took place in March 2019. The site visitors were simply amazed by the facilities that our students are able to utilize throughout their education, as well as with our interprofessional focus. Upon final review, we had zero citations and received another 10 years of CAATE accreditation.
The entire faculty remains committed to pursuing scholarship. Professors Rippon and Maffucci continue to aggressively pursue their terminal degrees. Dr. Boergers presented at the NATA meeting in Las Vegas. As well, all
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION 2020 students in the class of 2019 were accepted via the NATA Foundation Free Communications call for research and presented posters at the NATA meeting in Las Vegas. All faculty presented at a national meeting, either NATA or ASHA.
Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration (IHSA) Chair: Terrence Cahill, EdD, FACHE
The MHA program continues to receive national recognition. In the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking, the SHU-MHA was tied for #43, showing a substantial positive movement of more than 20+ schools into the top 50 programs in the country. The MHA’s retention, graduation and placement rates continue to exceed 90 percent, ranking it favorably among CAHME-accredited schools. MHA core faculty received national awards and were selected to present nationally on topics ranging from online graduate education, competency assessment, professionalism and leadership, and population health. MHA students now can use their graduate coursework for eligibility requirements to apply for professional credentialing in the area of health finance, emergency health management, quality, project management and healthcare data analytics.
Although our setting for the school changed last year as we relocated to the new IHS Campus, the PhD program mission remained the same, to prepare our students to join the scholarly conversation. Since the program started just over 20 years ago, we have graduated 112 PhD students. While our alumni include hospital CEOs, county health officers, regional VPs, leaders in the pharmaceutical industry and myriad healthcare clinicians, we are particularly proud that many of our alumni are full-time and adjunct faculty members at national and international colleges and universities.
As a PhD in Health Sciences program, we have always attracted a very diverse group of learners. In fact, we currently have international students from China, Jamaica, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Nigeria. Our international students have numbered as much as 15 percent of our PhD learning community. This student diversity fits well with our department’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) model.
As the complexity of our program continues to increase and we pursue new opportunities to develop our learning community, we have formed an Alumni Advisory Board to help guide our future directions. We are grateful to those alumni who have volunteered to help us capitalize on the many opportunities that we have to advance the quality of our learning program.
Occupational Therapy (OT) Chair: Ruth Segal, PhD, OTR
Greetings from the Department of Occupational Therapy Chair. Just over one year ago, the OT program moved from South Orange to the new state-of-the-art Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus in Nutley. As we continue to settle in, we look forward to the 2019-20 academic year. This year will bring several exciting opportunities to our program, our alumni and the occupational therapy community. We are breaking new ground in OT education through our collaboration with the Simulation Center housed on the IHS Campus. Our students are utilizing Standardized Patient simulations to develop critical thinking, clinical skills and professionalism. As we continue to integrate simulation into the curriculum, we hope to partner with our alumni to help facilitate these experiences. I am confident their professional knowledge will enhance our students’ ability to develop the skills necessary for success in fieldwork and their careers.
The department is also excited to announce that the 45th New Jersey Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference took place on the IHS Campus and drew over 200 attendees. Finally, on behalf of the Department of Occupational Therapy, I would like to thank our alumni who contribute to the education of our students both in the classroom and during
fieldwork and those who serve on our Advisory Council. We could not do this without you.
Physical Therapy (PT) Chair: Doreen M. Stiskal, PT, PhD ’03 Congratulations to the DPT program as we note a significant achievement. We have successfully graduated 15 classes of students since 2005! With over 300 practicing clinicians who represent us so well, we thank you for being terrific ambassadors of our program. The growth in our reputation is exponential because of your Seton Hall pride and commitment to quality physical therapy care. Since we often interact with you during program faculty’s visits to your clinical center, I would like to introduce you to the two new Directors of Clinical Education: Drs. Lorene Cobb and Lauren Snowdon. Each faculty brings a wealth of experience to oversee our clinical education program. They show tremendous support for students during the Integrated Clinical Experiences and full-time internships as they visit with clinical instructors ensuring the requisite learning occurs. Even during this first full year of their clinical activities and visits, the common theme they hear from students is how alumni are exemplary role models and mentors. A special bond occurs when a student is assigned to work alongside a clinical instructor who is an alum.
Investing in a Seton Hall DPT student learning experience is a win for all. As alumni, you inspire students to be the best clinicians they can be. The effective communication and empathy you show during patient care aligns with the University’s mission. You model servant leadership through voluntary participation in activities and demonstrate your dedication in meeting the needs of patients and families even outside of the normal work hours. As alumni, we proudly watch you perform as transformational leaders, helping patients to accept life-altering conditions by inspiring each to move forward from difficult life challenges. Students note that Seton Hall DPTs are consistently ready to give more selflessly than other clinicians. Through your actions, our new grads look forward to being clinical instructors for Seton Hall students to “pay forward” what our past grads have done for them. We can’t thank you enough for supporting our DPT program and the profession. Please reach out to us about getting involved as clinical educators to influence the next wave of physical therapists.
Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Chair: Vikram Dayalu, PhD, CCC-SLP
These are exciting times for the department. We have completed a year in our new home, the Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus in Nutley. The availability of advanced teaching and research resources combined with unparalleled opportunities for interprofessional collaboration are being leveraged to advance the delivery and restructuring of the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program (MS-SLP) curriculum. This is in line with our vision of becoming a nationally recognized department. The MS-SLP program successfully graduated its largest cohort of 49 students in the spring 2019 and welcomed a cohort of 50 students in the fall 2019.
Our students are part of a strong and well-rounded program that provides diverse academic and clinical offerings and a strategic focus on transferring research knowledge to clinical practice. Starting in the spring 2019, the program’s curriculum includes a series of simulation-based clinical opportunities that augments a well-rounded clinical education program. This provides students with additional formative opportunities to master their skills. Over the last academic term, students from the undergraduate dual degree program, the graduate program and the doctoral program collectively presented over 10 poster presentations, three platform presentations and one publication in a peer reviewed journal. One of our graduate students, Mychell Maldonado, was selected to participate in Minority Student Leadership Program at the 2018 National Convention in Boston. The department and students’ continued success is on account of the hard-working faculty members who continue to excel in all domains of work. Department faculty continually strive to advance the mission and vision of the department by regularly enhancing their courses with cuttingedge research and teaching methods, publishing their research in peer-reviewed journals, authoring textbooks and textbook chapters, serving on state and national organizations and journal editorial boards, and submitting multiple grants to foundation, state and federal agencies.
I am certain that you will share my excitement about the wonderful things happening at Seton Hall University, and I urge you visit us at our new home. As a program, we are always on the lookout for highly trained and accomplished clinicians
to serve as adjunct faculty who can mentor our students during clinical practica and provide hands-on clinical training on campus. Who better than a Seton Hall alumnus to fit this role! Please email me if you are interested in participating in the department’s clinical education program. Wishing you all the very best and looking forward to hearing from you. Go Pirates!
Physician Assistant (PA) Chair: Christopher Hanifin, MS ’99, PA-C The 2018-19 academic year was an exciting year for the program. We began the year with our move to the Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus in Nutley, perhaps one of the biggest transitions in program history. After years of planning, we officially relocated and began to get acclimated to our new facilities. This past May recognized another large transition in the program as we graduated our first expanded cohort of 53 students. While there has been a good deal of growth and change in the program, we have remained dedicated to the ideal that the close, careful instruction of our students is the most important thing we do.
Many of our classrooms are designed as learning studios, ideally set up for students to work in groups. Whether reading ECGs or discussing cases, students can practice the teamwork essential to modern patient care. Lecture recording systems have allowed for increased use of a flipped classroom teaching model to help ensure our precious class time focuses on the application of new material. In training clinicians, interpersonal skills are at least as important as “book smarts.” Our Standardized Patient (SP) Center mimics a 16-bed outpatient clinic. Examination rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art recording equipment, and we have access to a large pool of highly trained SPs who are able to portray not only medical conditions but many of the emotions that patients experience in a healthcare setting. Student-SP interactions are all recorded, affording students an opportunity to review their performance and develop the self-reflection that characterizes a good clinician.
If you are going to be in the area, please let us know if you would like to stop in – we would love to show you around and hear about all the great things you have been doing for the PA profession! ■
Seton Hall University Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus, Building 123 123 Metro Boulevard, Nutley, NJ 07110
SHU-257-19
The School of Health and Medical Sciences’ Celebration of Success Alumni Reception is heating up!
Stay tuned for updates and join us this summer for our next SHMS alumni event at the Jersey Shore.
