Author: Abimbola Elizabeth Eminowa

NSU Physician Assistant Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Initiative Faculty Training

Physician assistant faculty ultrasound coordinators during training with Rachel Krackov, Ph.D., MPAS, PA-C, RVS, director of PA POCUS education (far right)

Faculty and clinical support staff from all four Nova Southeastern University (NSU) physician assistant (PA) programs gathered in Orlando in early March for their annual clinical retreat. An exciting addition to this year’s gathering was a two-day point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training session for PA faculty ultrasound coordinators. The session was taught by Rachel Krackov, Ph.D., MPAS, PA-C, RVS, director of PA POCUS education, and adjunct professor at NSU’s Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences. Attendees included Robert Bobilin, MS, MPAS, PA-C (Jacksonville Campus); Jonathan Caplan, MHA, PA-C (Orlando Campus); Nancy A. Cornett, PA-C (Fort Myers Campus); Watfa Krayssa, MMS, PA-C (Fort Lauderdale); and Victor Quinones MS, PA-C, EMT-P (Orlando Campus).
This session was part of an initiative led by William Marquardt, MA, PA-C Emeritus, DFAAPA, associate dean, to integrate POCUS into the PA curriculum at all four campuses. Research has demonstrated that clinician-performed ultrasound at the bedside increases diagnostic confidence, decreases treatment delays, and increases patient safety. Physicians have been using POCUS as an adjunct to physical exam for over 15 years. Currently 62% of medical schools include POCUS in their curricula and nine medical residencies require POCUS competence for graduation. PAs work in collaboration with physicians while performing many of the same duties. If the next generation of physicians is competent in POCUS, PA students have to be as well.
The PA POCUS initiative at NSU is one of the first programs in the country to integrate POCUS into the PA curriculum. It began at the Orlando Campus in 2016 with an introductory lecture and a 16-hour hands-on workshop during the didactic year and has expanded into the clinical year in 2018, achieving nearly complete vertical integration. This year marks the beginning of Stage 2: expansion to the other three programs beginning with faculty training and curriculum development. The goal is to have POCUS integrated into all NSU PA programs, which will result in approximately 250 PA graduates each year with basic POCUS skills ready to provide the most up-to-date patient care.

NSU University School Solar Car Teams Succeed at Statewide EnergyWhiz Event

NSU University School congratulates the Lower School Solar Car teams for their successful work at the state-level EnergyWhiz event, sponsored by the Florida Solar Energy Center, and recently held in Cocoa, Florida. Our students finished 1st in Design and 6th in Speed competing against 23 other solar car teams in the categories of speed, design, and innovation.

EnergyWhiz is a renewable energy focused event for students to demonstrate their science, technology, engineering, art, and math capabilities through project-based learning activities. All teams submitted engineering journals, were interviewed by design judges, and raced in time trials and head-to-head races.

What a great culmination to a successful Solar Car season led by our incredible Innovation Lab instructor Ms. Garren.

Halmos Faculty, Students, and Alumni Present Research at National Conference in Orlando

Protein Modeling Team with Dr. Christine Dunham, ASBMB Award Winner (holding molecular models of ribosomes and HigB protein) Pictured left to right: Professor Emily Schmitt Lavin. Ph.D., Helana Ghali, Chandni Patel, Carolina Alzamora, Shreja Patel, Christine Dunham Marina Handal, Alexander Martinek, Alesa Chabbra, Jenny Nguyen, Antoine Pham, Mahima Kathiria

Halmos College Professor Emily Schmitt Lavin, Ph.D. traveled to attend the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) conference with 13 undergraduate students and other faculty members. There, they joined the Experimental Biology 2019 meeting to present their research and serve as an invited workshop panel presenter for the workshop titled, “Transforming Science Research into Science Outreach”. Additionally, three of the projects the team presented were:

J. Torruellas Garcia, R.L. Sims, M. Ballester, M.L. Dore, L. Macias, and M. McDermott. Introducing Experiential Science and Math Activities to At-Risk Girls: The E-STEAM Project.

Svilen Guenov, Samantha Burgess, Alexander Martinek, Hanna Stewart, Morgan Will,  Michele Parsons, Aarti Raja, and Emily Schmitt Lavin. Science Alive: Connecting College Students with the Community to Promote Science Literacy.

Alesa Chabbra, Carolina Alzamora, Helana Ghali, Marina Handal, Mahima Kathiria, Alexander Martinek, Jenny Nguyen,Chandni Patel, Shreja Patel, Antoine Pham, and Emily Schmitt Lavin. Developing a physical model of HigB toxin and its endonuclease cleavage mechanism.

While at the conference, the protein modeling team was able to discuss their project with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) young investigator award winner, Dr. Christine Dunham as part of the National CREST (Connecting Researchers, Educators, and Students) Project of the Center for Biomolecular Modeling. The team was also able to connect with B.S. Biology alumni, Drs. Veronica Akle (Class of 2003), Tridi Blackellar Delk (Class of 2006), and Lauren Douma (Class of 2010) who were attending along with their current research teams.

For more information:

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

https://www.asbmb.org/

Students Get Career Boost During Pre-Health Day

Selection of medical students from the Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine who participated in mock interviews led by B.S. Biology Alumnus, Romany Harkas, Class of 2017; along with faculty members (far right), Emily Schmitt Lavin, Ph.D. and Mark Jaffe, MD. Department of Biological Sciences, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography

Recently, Pre-Health day brought together the NSU and the community to provide real-world career advising to undergraduate students interested in health-related careers. Career Development (Emilio Lorenzo) and the NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography Professor Emily Schmitt Lavin, Ph.D., collaborated to present the annual Pre-Health Day along with colleagues from the Colleges of Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Optometry, Health Sciences, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Colleges of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine, The Tutoring and Testing Center, and Undergraduate Academic Advising. During the program undergraduate students were able to participate in mock interviews with professional (many of whom were NSU alumni). Students were able able to learn about a variety of graduate opportunities in health-related studies including the Masters in Biological Sciences Program, along with the Master of Public Health and Physician Assistant programs. Students also learned about medical scribe opportunities from representatives from ScribeAmerica. A group of medical students from the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine led by NSU Alum, Romany Harkas (B.S. 2018) assisted with the mock interviews.

Participants were welcomed by Richard Dodge, Dean of the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography (HCNSO), followed by presentations by professionals in the health care field, many of whom were alumni of the undergraduate biology program and various NSU graduate schools. These presentations included career advice from Nergess Taheri, D.O. (HCNSO Class of 2011; MSBI Class of 2017; D.O. Class of 2017), Ahmed Sirage (HCNSO Class of 2009; NSU DMD Class of 2015); Nicholas Carris, pharmacist (HCNSO Class of 2008), Adriana Strimbu, podiatrist, Debra Stern, Physical Therapist, Faculty NSU Physical Therapy Department, Andre Kerr, Physician Assistant (HCNSO Class of 2010), Nicole Cook, faculty member (Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine), Samantha Krueger (HCNSO Class of 2017, NSU College of Optometry Student, Class of 2020), Tambi Braun, Speech Language Pathologist and NSU Faculty at the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences and Melissa Boguslawski, NSU Faculty at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The full list of presenters and their abstracts are available at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/prehealth-day/.  More information is available about various alumni of the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography Biology Major at the website: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_alumni/ New alumni are also encouraged to join by selecting the submit bio option on the right hand side of the page.

Pre-health day provides a great opportunity for students to network with professionals and learn skills to make them better candidates for graduate school. For more information about this event, contact Mr. Emilio Lorenzo el541@nova.edu, Associate Director of Employer Relations, Career Development.

 

 

Dr. Emily Schmitt Lavin, Chair Department of Biological Sciences (DoBS); Romany Harkas (HCNSO Class of 2017; Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, M1 student conducted mock interviews at the event.

NSU Graduate Students and Faculty Present at the 2019 Pop Culture Association National Conference

Pictured left to right: Veronica Diaz, Melissa Bianchi, Ph.D., Darius Cureton, M.A., and Nichole Chavannes

Students and faculty from NSU’s Department of Writing and Communication (DWC) at the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) presented on four panels at the 2019 Pop Culture Association / American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) National Conference, hosted by the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., Apr. 17-20. This group included:

  • two assistant professors from the DWC
  • two students from the CAHSS DWC M.A. in Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) program, who also serve as graduate assistant coordinators in the Write from the Start Writing and Communication Center (WCC)

About the Panels

Title: “Ocean Ecologies and Dinosaur Zoos: How Games Make Arguments about Nature”

Presenter: Melissa Bianchi, Ph.D., DWC Assistant Professor

Summary: In this presentation, “ecoplay” was proposed as a concept for understanding how video games simulate nature in ways that are distinctly rhetorical, using ABZÛ and Jurassic World Evolution as examples. Video games often attempt to capture the operation of real-world processes and systems, influencing how players engage with these processes, systems, and their governing ideologies through play. These games are well-suited for applying a theory of ecoplay because of their engagement with environmental topics and their apparent connections to other environmentally focused media and rhetorics.

Title: “The Korvac Saga: The Avengers Teach Writing, Defeat the Supervillains, and Save the Universe and the University (A Live Comic Book Performance)!”

Presenter: Darius Cureton, M.A., DWC Visiting Assistant Professor; with colleagues from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and East Stroudsburg University

Summary: In this session, the presenters brought to life a comic book story of superhero teachers struggling valiantly to help their students learn to write by employing the use of comic books and graphic novels in their composition classrooms. In the world of comic books, when a publisher wants to increase sales, they reboot the title by giving the superhero a new costume or changing the members of the super team. The presenters proposed the need to reboot composition, English studies, and the academy.

Title: “The Unforgivable Curse of Consumerism: How ‘Official’ Fan Spaces in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World Exploit Fandom”

Presenter: Nicole Chavannes, CRDM student and WCC graduate assistant

Summary: Since The Sorcerer’s Stone was released in 1997, the Harry Potter series has spawned seven books, eight film adaptations, a play, and a second film franchise, along with a handful of secondary texts. However, the franchise has expanded beyond offering content for passive consumption; participatory fan spaces exist both online and in-person. This presentation explored how Rowling’s wizarding world exemplifies both transmedia storytelling and transmedia world-building through “official” fan spaces, and how those spaces are inextricably linked with consumerism.

Title: “The Beguiled: Blurring the Line Between ‘Gothic Misogyny’ and Contemporary Female Rage”

Presenter: Veronica Diaz, CRDM student and WCC graduate assistant

Summary: Adaptations offer authors and audiences the ability to reinterpret controversial themes in a different context, contributing to the additive comprehension surrounding a particular text or genre. This presentation explored the affective and effective elements at play in all three iterations of The Beguiled – the original 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan, the 1971 film by Don Siegel, and the 2017 film by Sofia Coppola – that offer audiences transmedia via multiplicity, with drastically different retellings of the same story.

 

Regional Nurses Attend Meeting on Addiction Intervention in Tampa

NSU’s Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing at the Tampa regional campus recently hosted a regional meeting of the Florida Nurses Association (FNA).

Linda Smith, a consultant for the Florida Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) and the Florida Department of Health, spoke to nurses about how to recognize when healthcare professionals need treatment for drug use and addiction.

Smith also discussed efforts to rehabilitate rather than prosecute workers struggling with drug use, an idea that has gained favor with employers since IPN began. Participants learned how to recognize nurses who may need treatment and how to provide important resources.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts and The Performance Project School of the Arts to host Summer Theater Camp

SEE YOUR CHILD LIVE ON THE BIG STAGE
Get in on the Act for the Ultimate Theater Camp Experience

Discover the star within! Don’t miss the fun when the curtain rises for a summer filled with the excitement and magic of live musical theater. As a world-class performance arts center and leader in the development of arts-integrated learning for our youth, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is thrilled to again partner with The Performance Project School of the Arts for our popular theater camp experience.

Under the direction of artistic professional and teaching veteran Nina Felice, campers gain hands-on experience in musical theater, acting, dance, voice and technical production. With three locations, two sessions and age-specific groups and shows, there is no reason to miss out on the fun. Each session culminates with a live performance in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center. Plus, every camper performs because everyone is cast in the show. As they experience the joy of live musical theater, campers build self-confidence, engage their imaginations and learn the importance of teamwork.

Date: Summer 2019
Venue: The Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center

CAMP HOURS
Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 4 PM
Early drop-off (8 AM – 9 AM) and late pickup (4 PM – 6 PM) are available.

NSU Faculty, Staff, and Student Discount Available! 

Please call 954.414.6904

College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Graduate Authors Book on Christianity

David P. Diaz, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of

Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ), recently authored the book, “The Genesis Labyrinth: Investigating Alternatives in the First Eleven Chapters of Genesis.” The book is a thought-provoking account that contains teachings taken from the book of Genesis that define its essence upon the Christian faith.

Diaz is an author and retired college professor. His writings have spanned the gamut between peer-reviewed technical articles to his memoir, “The White Tortilla”, which won the 2006 American Book Award. He holds B.S. and M.S. from California Polytechnic State University and earned his doctoral degree from FCE&SCJ in 2000.

Lost Dean’s Son Returns to Oceanographic Campus

In the last week of April, Jim Richardson visited the Oceanographic Campus. This was a bittersweet visit, as his father was with a group of researchers who was lost at sea in 1975.

William Springer Richardson (1928-1975), was a Professor and Director of Nova University Oceanographic Center, he was also active as a scientist, inventor, sailor, flier and author. Richardson was head of a team on board Nova’s research vessel Gulf Stream which was lost at sea off the coast of Maine in 1975.

Mr. Richardson was very happy to see how his father’s legacy has expanded into the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography.

NSU CAHSS Assistant Professor and Writing & Communication Center Faculty Coordinator Named SWCA Vice President

Janine Morris, Ph.D., CAHSS Department of Writing & Communication Assistant Professor and NSU Write from the Start Writing and Communication Center (WCC) Faculty Coordinator, was elected 2019-2020 Vice President of the Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA). The SWCA’s mission is to “advance literacy; to further the theoretical, practical, and political concerns of writing center professionals; and to serve as a forum for the writing concerns of students, faculty, staff, and writing professionals from both academic and nonacademic communities in the southeastern region of the United States.” In 2020, Morris will become SWCA President.

At NSU, Morris is one of three faculty coordinators in the WCC and oversees many graduate student initiatives, including a professional development and writing workshop series and weekly writing group for graduate and professional students. Morris has worked specifically with graduate and professional students for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; College of Pharmacy; College of Medical Sciences, Fischler College of Education; College of Osteopathic Medicine; and the College of Psychology. Along with supporting graduate and professional students, she is also the faculty advisor for the WCC’s social media (@nsuwcc).

Morris is currently working with WCC faculty coordinator, Kelly Concannon, Ph.D., on an edited collection on affect and emotion in writing centers. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Dr. Morris to demonstrate leadership to NSU and to the larger writing and communication center community,” said Kevin Dvorak, Ph.D., executive director of the WCC.

Outside of the WCC, Morris is the Alumni Relations Manager for the Department of Writing and Communication and is the co-PI on a 2018 College of Composition and Communication research initiative grant to study how online first-year writing students’ backgrounds and expectations inform their experiences in first-year composition classes.

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