Accolades

Orthotist resident receives travel fellowship award

Rachael Rosen, an orthotist practitioner resident at UMMC, has received the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education’s 2017 Larry Lange Travel Fellowship Award.

Named in memory of Larry Lange, C.P.O., F.A.A.O.P., a 27-year veteran of the orthotics and prosthetics profession, the $2,000 award provides individuals beginning their O and P careers an opportunity to enrich their education and professional development in an aspect of O and P care. The fund covers travel and meeting registration fees for professional O and P conferences and activities.

Rosen created an evaluation protocol and family and patient materials for patients with scoliosis treated with thoracic lumbar sacral orthosis braces. She also has focused on mentoring young women, especially in the O and P field.

Transplant nurse earns ABTC certified clinical status

Cara Darling, a transplant R.N., recently became the only nurse at the Medical Center to have received Certified Clinical Transplant Nurse status from the American Board for Transplant Certification.

Darling earned a national certification obtained by only about 500 transplant nurses nationwide. The ABTC gives the honor to professionals who are transplant floor nurses, transplant patient coordinators or organ procurement coordinators. In 2016, UMMC performed a record 210 transplants.

Earning the certification is a rigorous process involving a 175-item test and a 25-item pretest that gauges the professional’s knowledge of all solid organ transplants. Before testing, nurses must have 12 months of direct involvement in the care of solid organ transplant patients.

The certification “is hard to obtain and it’s hard to keep,” said Dean Henderson, administrator for transplant services. “It’s a big achievement and a unique thing for someone to do in Mississippi.”

“I got a greater understanding of pharmacology and transplant medications,” Darling said. “I feel like I was a good nurse before the certification, but now I have a deeper knowledge. This has helped me to better educate my patients.

“They like to know that you know exactly why everything is being done.”

 National allied health honorary taps two in SHRP for Holder awards

The Alpha Eta Society, the national scholastic honor society for the allied health professions, has selected a School of Health Related Professions faculty member and a recent SHRP student to receive awards for academic achievement.

Dr. Susanna “Asher” Street Beam, assistant professor of radiologic sciences in SHRP and a recent Doctor of Health Administration program graduate, will receive the Lee Holder Award for Excellence in Graduate Allied Health Education, while Cassie Brading, a recent graduate of the radiologic sciences program, will receive the 2017 Sidney D. Rodenberg Memorial Scholastic Award in Undergraduate Allied Health Education during the Annual Conference of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals Oct. 18 in San Antonio, Texas.

“It is a significant accomplishment to have two graduates from the same allied health school to receive both of the top national Alpha Eta awards in undergraduate and graduate education,” said Dr. Mark Gray, associate dean for academic affairs in SHRP. “Dr. Street Beam and Ms. Brading are very deserving of the awards and were selected as outstanding members of the Alpha Eta Society by exemplifying significant accomplishments in the areas of academics, scholarship and leadership.”

Each of the awardees will receive an award and a $1,000 scholarship during the conference.