Deep Roots — For CHP’s Faculty Alumni, There’s No Place Like UAMS
| For some faculty members in the College of Health Profession, their roots at UAMS go deep — all the way back to when they were students themselves.
Lindsay Gilbert, an assistant professor in the Medical Laboratory Sciences program, serves popcorn during the college’s fall Courtyard Carnival. Gilbert is one of 28 faculty members in the College of Health Professions who attended UAMS as a student.
In fact, the 28 faculty members who matriculated at UAMS make up 36% of the college’s faculty.
“I love the fact that UAMS has so many alumni faculty members,” said Dean Susan Long, Ed.D. “We have a very special college, and while I didn’t attend school here, I certainly haven’t wanted to leave since I arrived in 1992.”
Many of these alumni say the relationship they had with their faculty mentors has influenced the way they treat their own students.
One such faculty alum is Layla Q. Simmons, M.Ed., RDCS, RDMS, instructor and clinical coordinator in the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program, who graduated from the program in May 2015 and started at UAMS in September 2016.
“The best part of my program when I was a student was easily the faculty. They took a personal interest in my success and provided so much guidance to me,” she said. “As a faculty member now, I now get to be that mentor. Seeing the students on day one and then seeing the professionals they become over the course of 22 months in our program is by far the best part of my job as a faculty member!”
Alicia Baird, chair of the Department of Ophthalmic Technologies, (left) celebrates with scholarship recipient and OMT student Shawanda McCoy and John Shock, M.D., founder of the UAMS Jones Eye Institute, at the CHP Scholarship Reception in September.
Alicia Baird, B.S., CO, COMT, program director and chair of the Ophthalmic Medical Technologies (OMT) program, agreed. She attended UAMS from 2008-2010.
“As a student, I was very impressed by the involvement of physicians and alumni of the program. As a faculty member, I see firsthand how the physicians at the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute are invested in the success of the OMT students, the same way they are with the ophthalmology residents. There just aren’t any other programs like ours – in Arkansas or the nation.”
Ashley McCrary, M.P.A.S., PA-C, assistant professor and co-clinical director in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, was a member of the program’s first class, attending from May 2013 to August 2015. She is now working alongside the faculty who taught her a few years ago.
“As the PA program has developed, we’ve made several improvements,” she said. “But one thing that hasn’t changed is the closeness and family-like feel. Students and faculty both know they’re supported.”
Faculty alumni also have insight into the ways their programs have changed over the years.
Lindsey K. Clark, M.P.H., MLS(ASCP)CM, is an assistant professor in the Department of Laboratory Sciences. She graduated from Medical Laboratory Sciences program in 2013 and from the Master of Public Health program in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health in 2019.
In just a few years, she has seen significant changes in the Medical Laboratory Sciences program.
“When I was a student, our program consisted of an on-campus class of about 20 students and a distance cohort of roughly the same number,” she said. “Today, our on-campus cohort remains around 20-30 students,” while the online MLT-to-MLS degree completion program, in which medical laboratory technicians can earn their bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences, has grown to over 100 students — many of whom are in the military.
“It’s a privilege to teach these students who have given so much for our country. For many of them, completing a bachelor-level degree will allow them to commission as an officer and lead the next generation of military lab professionals.”
Noelle Danylchuk, M.S., and Tiffany Lepard Tassin, M.S., of the Genetic Counseling program, bestow an academic hood on graduating student Harrison Moore at the CHP Hooding Ceremony in May. Tassin, an assistant professor, attended UAMS as a student.
The Medical Laboratory Sciences program has seen other changes, including the retirement of the faculty in place when he was a student, said Jason Key, M.Ed., MLS(ASCP)CM, who graduated in 2010 and came to work as an assistant professor in 2017.
“We have a very young faculty group now that I think brings about new ideas for the direction of our program, he said. “Even with all of the changes, the college and the department are still a family, which is so rare. I haven’t felt this in the places where I’ve worked before.”
That sense of family is one of many things that distinguishes UAMS from other health sciences universities — and is something that keeps faculty members here year after year.
John Callaway, M.Ed., RT (R)(ARRT), assistant professor and assistant program director of the Radiologic Imaging Sciences program, graduated from the program in 1995 and came back to work at UAMS in 2006.
“The tradition and reputation of UAMS were a big draw to me when I was thinking about where to go to school, and I still think that is a big draw for students today,” he said. “To me, there is no better place to get an education, and our program is second to none. I have a great deal of pride in our program, and I always want to work to make sure it stays the best!”
Lisa Rhoden, M.Ed., RT (R)(M)(ARRT), CNMT, graduated from the Radiologic Imaging Sciences program in 2003 and the Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences program a year later. She first worked at UAMS in diagnostic X-ray as a radiographer, and then was hired as the first PET/CT Technologist in the state of Arkansas because of her dual licensure. Now she is the director of the Division of Radiologic Imaging Sciences and an assistant professor.
“I owe so much to UAMS. August marked my 15th year as an employee, and I have never regretted my decision to come here.”