Dean's Corner
Dear CONHI Community,
As our students, faculty and staff prepare to start another semester, I am appreciative of their flexibility and patience as a new COVID-19 variant impacts our community. Our students' dedication to training for and joining the nursing, kinesiology and public health professions is unwavering, and I am proud of their resilience. Soon they will go on to join our over 50,000 CONHI alumni in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and beyond who continue to serve our community and are doing exceptional work.
In this first edition of the UTA Health Bulletin of 2022, we celebrate our most recent graduates, share our most recent innovations, and honor our 50th anniversary. While the pandemic reminds us to be cautious, I remain optimistic that in the months ahead we will be able to resume in-person celebrations. Wishing you all a safe and healthy start to the new year.
All the best,
Dean Elizabeth Merwin, PhD, RN, FAAN
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FALL 2021 GRADUATES
Congratulations to our graduates who walked during commencement in December! The ceremony was held at Globe Life Field and we were honored to have Blake Kretz, President, Texas Health Arlington Memorial give the commencement address.
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From left, Pranesh Aswath, William Harvey, Gabriela Wilson and James Grover
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UTA ESTABLISHES PARTNERSHIP WITH ROMANIAN UNIVERSITY
In alignment with its goals of global engagement, The University of Texas at Arlington has entered into a cooperative agreement with Danubius University Galati (DU), an international research university located in Romania.
Gabriela Wilson, professor of kinesiology and co-director of the Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics (MICHI) will coordinate UTA’s program activities as part of the agreement. She said the partnership will create meaningful interactions that develop global competencies and enhance cross-cultural understanding.
“Exchanging ideas with the professors and students at Danubius will open new doors to unexplored research areas where our curiosities and expertise overlap,” Wilson said. “The combination of cultural perspectives will inevitably create broader results that can meet a greater number of needs.”
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KINESIOLOGY STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN VIRTUAL EXCHANGE WITH BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITY
Students in the Department of Kinesiology participated in a virtual exchange program coined by the department as Collaborative Online International Learning (or COIL) with physical therapy students at Mackenzie Presbyterian University (UPM) located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. COIL involved both groups coming together virtually for the presentation of case studies and allowed students from each program to discuss, raise questions, and share their perspectives.
“The virtual exchange class was a highlight of my undergraduate experience at UTA. We got to present the case studies that we had worked on all semester to the Brazilian students of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, and they got to present their case studies to our class. I feel as if both we, the American students and the Brazilian students learned a lot from each other through the cultural differences and similarities regarding how we assess motor abilities and the discussions we had with one another,” said Lia Salamone – UTA student.
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JOIN CONHI FOR OUR UPCOMING 50th ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
We are working on some great events to celebrate our 50th anniversary this semester, which you can learn more about by checking our 50th Anniversary Webpage. Here is a preview of what we have planned:
February 2022: UTA Library will be opening and hosting a reception for their Tribute to Nursing history exhibit (details coming soon)
February 2022: Hoops with CONHI – join CONHI for a Mavericks game, first 100 to stop by our table at the student section to get a commemorative 50th anniversary T-shirt. Specific date TBA.
Spring 2022: CONHI 50th Anniversary Alumni Panel – details coming soon
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A TRIBUTE TO NURSING: UTA AND BEYOND
Join the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation for a special exhibit covering the history of nursing at UTA and beyond.
The College of Nursing and Health Innovation at UTA traces its roots back to the John Sealy Hospital Training School for Nurses in Galveston. It was established in 1890 and later became the University of Texas System School of Nursing. In 1972, a previously existing nursing program in Fort Worth became affiliated with the UT System, which ultimately moved to UTA in 1977 to become what is now CONHI.
Through more than 130 years of education and 50 years at UTA, this nursing program has strengthened its community through the development of its nurse professionals.
This exhibit focuses on major themes such as developments in the nursing profession; the training of nurses; public service during wartime; and rites of passage such as graduation, capping, and pinning ceremonies.
“A Tribute to Nursing” opens this Spring and is dedicated to all the nurses who have been serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. A community reception will be announced on the UTA Libraries social media soon.
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IN-PERSON KINESIOLOGY RESEARCH DAY BACK IN ACTION
The Department of Kinesiology's Fall 2021 Research Day was held on December 3, 2021, and had over 50 research projects presented by more than 100 students. Graduate students and professors judged each undergraduate student project based on the individual or teams’ presentation and their research conducted.
The award winners of this past Research Day are Bayan Hammad and Shilpa Thomas with the project topic “The Effects of E-Cigarettes on Dynamic Respiratory Volumes on College-Aged Individuals” and Bryan Portillo & Katelin Merillat with the project topic “The Acute Effects of Green Tea Extract (Matcha) on College Males during Submaximal Exercise.” All four students were in the Clinical Applied Physiology track of the B.S. in Exercise Science and graduated in December 2021.
A big thank you to Dr. Priscila Tamplain and Dr. R. Matthew Brothers for their work in putting together this event for our students!
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NURSING STUDENT DEVELOPS HYGIENE DRIVE TO AID HOMELESS VETERANS
Sally Koshy has been a nurse for almost 20 years and continues to utilize her passion to aid underserved communities. Koshy graduated in December through the MSN Administration Program in UTA’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Koshy’s career focus has been working with veterans. Currently, she works as a Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse at the Dallas VA Medical Center, providing end-of-life care.
During Koshy’s graduate studies she was tasked with completing a capstone project with a focus on the needs of the surrounding community. With her passions guiding her, Koshy created and implemented a hygiene drive for homeless veterans.
“The goal of my project was to provide essentials for our veterans through creating hygiene kits. The hygiene kits will provide a way for our veterans to get cleaned, refreshed and stay healthy,” says Koshy.
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Erin Carlson, CONHI professor of public health, said she agrees with the new guidance concerning the omicron variant of COVID-19, The Dallas Observer reported. “We needed new guidance to take into account where we are scientifically with this newly dominant variant,” she said.
Nearly one out of five health care workers have quit their jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Dallas Morning News reported. The last 23 months have been the hardest of Gabriela Whitener’s 27-year career. Whitener, who also is a UT Arlington clinical assistant professor, said, “Have you ever watched those movies of when the army is in the trenches, and they pray before the fight? We as a unit, as nurses, we always pray before the shift starts.”
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