Author: Jamie Stoskopf

The Wichita State and University of Kansas interdisciplinary team won second place at the annual CLARION Interprofessional National Case Competition. Students presented “Pandemics Past, Present, and Future: Emphasizing Trust & Equity in Emergency Preparedness and Response” with their analysis and implementation plans that reflect how to prepare and respond effectively to an arising pandemic. Team members from the Wichita State College of Health Professions are Taylor Lipford, (speech-language pathology), Kristen Geiger (physician associate) and Taygen Altenburg (health administration).

The team competed at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and the competition included 11 teams from universities across the country, with 47 students representing different healthcare professions. The team was coached by Sarah Flora, assistant educator with the Wichita State School of Nursing, and Mary Koehn, education associate professor with the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita.

CLARION is a national competition dedicated to improving health care through interprofessional collaboration. Student teams are given a case and charged with creating a feasible 360-degree, interprofessional plan to address a specific health care issue. Students work as part of an interdisciplinary team and present their research to a panel of interprofessional judges.

Congratulations to Dr. Dean Elledge, director for the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program, who was named 2024 Dentist of the Year by the Kansas Dental Association. Dr. Elledge was presented with the award at the Kansas Dental Association conference in Kansas City. 

Dr. Elledge’s specialties include implantology and prosthodontics, and he is the only licensed prosthodontist in the area. The AEGD program at Wichita State is a one-year, postdoctoral education program for dentists and is the only dentistry education training in Kansas.   

Congratulations to Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) student Dorianne “Dori” Lebron Malave for being selected as the recipient of the annual endowed scholarship from Southcentral Pathology Laboratory for fall 2024. Dori was recently surprised during class with the news that she is this semester’s award recipient. Dori was nominated by faculty in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences for her dedication and outstanding academic performance in the program. Isai Chavira, who was the recipient in fall 2023, will continue to receive the scholarship in fall 2024. 

Dori says the scholarship will bring her the peace of solely focusing on academics and pursuing her Medical Laboratory Sciences degree.  

“Ever since I came into the program, everything felt right, and this award proves it to be real,” she says. “I would like to thank the faculty, my classmates and Dr. Alderson for being part of this special moment that has given me the reassurance that I’m right where I need to be.” 

The Southcentral Pathology Scholarship award was established in 2021 by Dr. Joel Alderson, president of Southcentral Pathology in Wichita, the largest group of surgical pathologists in southcentral Kansas. His goal in establishing this scholarship is to attract students to the medical laboratory sciences profession and reward students who have displayed success through academic achievement, character and personal testament.  This generous award provides full-ride scholarships to two deserving students each year in the WSU MLS program. Recipients are chosen based on merit and financial need, and each student receives an equal amount of funds. This is the largest scholarship donation to the MLS program.

Congratulations to Dr. Gregory Hand, dean of the College of Health Professions, and Dr. Voncella McCleary-Jones, associate dean of the College of Health Professions, for receiving Wichita Business Journal’s 2024 Healthcare Hero Awards. The awards were presented during a banquet on April 2 at the Wichita Marriott.

Health Care Heroes recognizes outstanding healthcare professionals for their contributions to improving health care in Wichita and the surrounding area.

The College of Health Professions (CHP) has three patient-serving clinics that are open to the public. All clinics are accepting new patients and provide high-quality, affordable health care to the community.

• The Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic provides speech-language and hearing services to people across the lifespan. The clinic faculty specialize in speaking, hearing, swallowing and spoken and written language impairments. The clinic offers a wide variety of audiology services, including hearing aid fitting and hearing aid repair of all makes and models.
• The Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation Dental Hygiene Clinic offers a wide range of low-cost preventative, therapeutic and educational dental hygiene services.
• WSU’s General Dentistry’s services include cleanings, fillings, teeth whitening and dental implants. The dental clinic provides services in periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery and prosthodontics. The WSU General Dentistry Practice offers a discount for dental care to WSU students and their spouses and children.

The College of Health Professions (CHP) has three patient-serving clinics that are open to the public. All clinics are accepting new patients and provide high-quality, affordable health care to the community.  

• The Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic provides speech-language and hearing services to people across the lifespan. Clinic faculty specialize in speaking, hearing, swallowing and spoken and written language impairments. The clinic offers a wide variety of audiology services, including hearing aid fitting and battery replacement for all makes and models.
• The Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation Dental Hygiene Clinic offers a wide range of low-cost preventative, therapeutic and educational dental hygiene services.
• WSU’s General Dentistry’s services include cleanings, fillings, teeth whitening and dental implants. The dental clinic provides services in periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery and prosthodontics. The WSU General Dentistry Practice offers a discount for dental care to WSU students and their spouses and children.

Are you interested in a career in nursing? Wichita State’s School of Nursing will host an information session at 10 a.m. Friday, March 8 in 110 Ahlberg Hall.

The session will discuss program options, admission requirements and will allow time for participants to ask the nursing faculty questions.

Sarah DiGregorio, author of “Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World” will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29 in 200 Ahlberg Hall. There will be a meet and greet with DiGregorio from 6 to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. 

DiGregorio is a journalist and critically acclaimed author who has written on health care and other topics for the New York Times, Washington Post and more. She has been a keynote speaker for national audiences, such as the American Nurses Association, National Association for Neonatal Nurses and many others.  

Health professions students can join the College of Health Professions’s (CHP) ScholarshipUniverse Open Lab from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12 in 100A Ahlberg Hall. This is a great opportunity to work on your fall 2024/spring 2025 applications. The lab is come-and-go, and the scholarship coordinator will be on-hand to answer questions.

A new partnership between Heartspring and the College of Health Professions will bring faculty and students on-site at Heartspring’s Pediatric Clinic to provide physical therapy and audiology services to the local community.

Heartspring provides interdisciplinary therapies that help children with neurodevelopmental differences realize their full potential in communication, social interactions, mobility and daily living.