UTMB School of Health Professions

Welcome to UTMB, the oldest medical school in the Southwest United States! For over a century, the University of Texas Medical Branch has dedicated its efforts toward improving the health of Texans. Since 1968 the School of Health Professions has helped carry on this tradition. Over 6,000 professionals for the nation's healthcare workforce have gotten their education with us - the vast majority of whom continue to practice in Texas.

Take The First Step - For more information about getting your education at UTMB, please contact the SHP Office of Academic and Student Affairs by phone at (409) 772-3030 or by email at shp.recruiting@utmb.edu.

HEALTH PROFESSIONS NEWS

Rasmussen appointed Hill Professor - Sealy Center on Aging recently appointed Dr. Blake Rasmussen, Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, as the inaugural holder of the Lloyd and Sue Ann Hill Professorship in Healthy Aging to support translational and/or clinical aging research, including, one or more of the following areas of interest: muscle biology, muscle function, exercise, nutrition, metabolism, rehabilitation, integrative physiology, biomechanics, obesity and cardiovascular health.

Blake is vital member of the Sealy Center on Aging, the Claude Pepper Older American Independence Center serving as Core Leader for the Pepper Center Pilot/Exploratory Studies Core. His R01 NIH grant, renewed in 2008 for five years, examines the molecular basis for the muscle response to exercise and nutrition in an effort to develop evidence-based rehabilitation strategies to promote muscle growth in various clinical conditions associated with significant muscle loss.

Dr. Rasmussen’s research accomplishments and collaborative contributions to the Sealy Center on Aging and UTMB are certainly evident. Please join me in congratulating him on this well-deserved honor

Winter Commencement promises to be a large celebration with 126 graduates anticipated from the Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies, Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Respiratory Care programs. SHP is honored to welcome UT System Regent Janiece Longoria to confer the degrees at the ceremony in Levin Hall Auditorium on Friday, December 18th at 4pm. Dean of the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, Dr. Raul Caetano, will serve as speaker, and Dr. Karen Chapman, Director of UTMB Rehabilitation Services, is SHP’s 2009 Distinguished Alumna. Leading the way as Grand Marshal is Dr. Kurt Mossberg, Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy.

UTMB School of Health Professions awards over $212,000 in scholarships in 2009 - SHP recently hosted a Scholarship Luncheon to recognize our generous donors and recipients. This year scholarship awards topped $212,000 with 180 worthy students benefiting from this pool of funds. We continue to seek ways to grow our endowments and provide much needed assistance to SHP students each year.

Baker appointed Ruby Decker Professor - It is with great pleasure that we announce the selection of Dr. Christine Baker as the newest holder of the Ruby Decker Professorship. Dr. Baker has been a vital member of the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy for 23 years and clearly exemplifies the qualities and captures the spirit of the founding leader of the School of Health Professions Department of Physical Therapy.

Ruby Decker was the first Director of the School of Physical Therapy at UTMB, and is still honored by the physical therapy faculty and students for her contributions to physical therapy and to the foundations of the department.

Artificial gravity can prevent muscle loss in space - In a new paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, a UTMB team led by associate professor Douglas Paddon-Jones describes their success using a NASA human centrifuge to fight the muscle-wasting effects of weightlessness. Working with volunteers kept in bed for three weeks to simulate zero-gravity conditions, they found that just one hour a day on the centrifuge was sufficient to restore normal muscle protein synthesis. Read more...

Occupational Therapy students in Nicaragua - In the summer of 2009, occupational therapy students Melissa Booth, Nicole Holland, and Megan Mullins conducted research in Santa Rita, Nicaragua as Fogarty Research Fellows awarded by the Galveston Global Health Consortium under the leadership of Dr. Clinton White. Gretchen Stone, Chair of the Department of Occupational Therappy served as the on-site mentor for their research project entitled, “Neuromusculoskeletal Pain and Daily Work Routines among Women Living in Rural Nicaragua.” Students visited 20 women three times, for a total of 60 home visits, to assess daily work routines and to examine how simple environmental modifications or changes in body mechanics could diminish the effects of hard physical labor and enhance quality of life.

Mossberg receives Walker Award - Kurt Mossberg, PT, PhD a faculty member in both the SHP Physical Therapy Department and Rehab Sciences program received the 2009 Jack Walker Award from the American Physical Therapy Association. This award recognizes a research article that makes “an important contribution to the understanding of clinical practice and patient care”.

Freeman awarded Logan Professorship - Clinical Laboratory Sciences Chair, Dr. Vicki Freeman, was awarded the Suzanne Logan Endowed Professorship for her application “Building and Maintaining Relationships across Professions”, which was recently approved by the selection panel of the Academy of Master Teachers.

Whitlock receives Sealy Center award - Dr. Greg Whitlock, a member of the Clinical Laboratory Sciences faculty, was selected to receive the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development Graduate Student Award.

UTMB School of Health Professions Ranked 8th Nationally in NIH Funding - The School of Health Professions (formerly allied health sciences) at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was ranked eighth in grant funding in 2007 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ranking is based on a comparison of funding levels for all health related professions schools in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Ken Ottenbacher, senior associate dean for research and graduate education, said "The School’s grant funding from the NIH and other federal sources has increased substantially over past several years and this directly reflects the excellence of our faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. We are very proud of their accomplishments."