PEOPLE
Next chapter. GW Health Sciences bids farewell to Lisa Alexander of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies (PAS) who is retiring after 38 years of service. Alexander, a triple GW alumna (PA-C ’79, MPH ’89, EdD ’03), is a recognized leader at the local, national, and international level. She served as program director from 1989-1996 and 2011-2015. A passionate advocate for health equity and access to care, Alexander was the first faculty advisor to SMHS’s inter-professional student run clinic, the HEALing Clinic and served as a volunteer clinician at the clinic since its inception in 2007. In 2011, she received the Margaret B. and Cyril A. Schulman Distinguished Service Award and in 2009, she was the faculty recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. A leader in PA education, she’s a former president of the Physician Assistant Education Association and previously served as president of the PA Foundation. A member of the International Academy of PA Educators, she assisted with the development of the clinical associate program at Kigali Health Institute in Rwanda through appointment as a Fulbright Senior Specialist. She leaves GW to continue making an impact globally as director of the physician associate programme at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.
Career advancement. You could say that Brandon Beattie, MMS, PA-C, found his health care calling in the military, like many of the pioneers in the field. Beattie, who joined PAS this month as a visiting assistant professor, said it was his U.S. Army experience that prompted him to pursue being a PA. “I worked closely with PAs there in many trauma bays as a combat medic,” Beattie said of his service from 2003-2009. “I enjoyed seeing their scope of practice. I like that PAs are trained as general practitioners and then can specialize.” Following his deployments, Beattie earned a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and then a master’s degree from Yale University. A resident of Alexandria, Virginia, he worked in urgent care at Virginia Hospital Center as an adjunct faculty member in PAS before assuming his current role. “I really enjoy it,” he said of working with the PA Program. “I’m excited to advance my role with the program. I love interacting with PA students … their skills and intellect are incredible. They make me a better PA and person.” Away from work, Beattie enjoys family time with his wife, Eline, who’s also a PA, and their 10-month-old daughter, Nora. A self-described avid outdoorsman, he enjoys hiking, biking, and running.
First appointment. Nate’le’ge’ Wardlow, MPH, PA-C, says it was high caliber PA students and GW Health Sciences focus on diversity and inclusion that prompted her to join the PA Program this month as an assistant professor and director of clinical education. Wardlow, who practiced in surgical critical care for the last 14 years at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, was familiar with our program through her work as a preceptor. GW is her first faculty home, and she has hit the ground running. “It’s a big job during this pandemic time,” she said. “One of my goals is to expand our clinical rotations and to incorporate more cultural competency training and a public health perspective into the students’ clinical education. I’m excited to help train the next generation of PAs.” Wardlow lives in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, with her husband, Greg, and a pit bull/mastiff mix named Ziggy. In her spare time, she enjoys walks in the woods, running, reading, traveling, and church activities. One trip on her wish list? Visiting the Maldives. “I want to stay in an over-the-water villa and come out and step down into a clean beautiful ocean,” she said. A native of New York City, Wardlow earned her PA degree from CUNY-City College/Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education-Harlem Hospital Center and an MPH from the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
Leadership collaboration. Trudy Mallinson, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, FACRM, and Samar A. Nasser, PhD, MPH, PA-C, have been named co-program directors of the PhD in Translational Health Sciences Program (THS) in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL). Nasser will lead the program's didactic portion which comprises the first two years of study, while Mallinson will direct the research and dissertation phase of study. READ MORE
Vice chair. Paige McDonald (EdD’12) has been promoted to serve as vice chair of CRL. In the new role, McDonald will work closely with program directors in assessment and modifications to curricula as well as develop cross-curricular initiatives. An expert in teaching and educational research, she will lead faculty in academic programming, course development, and teaching excellence. READ MORE.
PROGRAMS
Calling all writers! Leigh Frame of CRL is serving as guest editor for a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Frame invites her colleagues to submit manuscripts that focus on the impact of the lifestyle medicine movement. The special issue, “The Lifestyle Medicine Movement: An Extension of Public Health into Medicine,” will address the growing recognition of the importance of lifestyle factors in the prevention of disease and promotion of health and wellness (including their inclusion into practice guidelines). More information can be found at the special issue website. If interested in contributing, contact Frame or jasmine.zhang@mdpi.com at the journal’s editorial office. Submissions deadline is March 14, 2021, but papers will be individually published on an ongoing basis.
Tuning in. PAS is hitting the airways with a new podcast, “PA Connections,” that addresses professional issues relevant to PA practice. The biweekly podcast, launched this month and co-produced by the IMPACT Initiative, will be available on Apple and Spotify podcast directories, and on the PAS website. READ MORE.
DPT takeover. Faculty, students, and alumni of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program authored all of the articles in the July issue of Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practice, the official magazine of the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy . The “all GW” issue was spearheaded by Dhinu Jayaseelan (DPT ’10) of HHFR. “I was given a lot of leeway on how to construct the issue,” Jayaseelan said. ”I wanted to make sure that our faculty, students, alumni, residents, and schoolwide collaborators were all represented … specific topics were driven by content expertise and showcase the wide-ranging and interdisciplinary nature of the projects we are involved in.” The issue featured 12 authors from DPT as well co-authors from other programs within SMHS and the GW School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
In the summertime. The fourth annual Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (BLS) Summer Immersion Program didn’t skip a beat this year, even with the pandemic. Marcia Firmani reports that instead of the usual in-person, two session programs, she and her BLS team developed a virtual program. “We could have just cancelled it due to the pandemic, yet in short order, we completely revised it and developed a fully virtual, synchronous experience for the high school students,” Firmani said. Firmani says special thanks go to Emma Levine and Allison Cannon for the application and admissions process and to Cliff Cymrot for revising the program for a virtual format. Kudos also to Cymrot, Yousif Barzani, Firmani, and Carol Rentas for serving as module developers and presenters. The program, held in June and July, featured live Blackboard Collaborate sessions with lectures on lab skills, safety, and techniques; disease case studies, diagnostic techniques, and molecular technologies. In all, 67 high school students attended the program.