Neely Chandler
Congratulations to Neely Chandler on being accepted as part of the American Nurses Association (ANA) mentoring program. She found her application was accepted on Oct. 10 and she was assigned her first mentee on Oct. 11.
The purpose of the program is to match new RNs with experienced nurses during their transition from nursing school to practice. More information about the program can be found at the link above.
Cara Cornell
Congratulations to Cara Cornell on having her article, “Fruits and Vegetables: What’s the big deal?” published in the Sept. 28 issue of The Lake News of Calvert City, Kentucky. Her article discusses the importance of eating healthy and the effect diet has on a variety of chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, bone disease and heart disease. According to her article, on average only about 10 percent of Americans consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Cornell is a Murray State University dietetic intern student currently interning at the Marshall County Health Department.
Sydney Kessler
Congratulations to Sydney Kessler on completing her three-month MDisability summer internship and for being featured in a Michigan Medicine article. Kessler’s final project, “Prescription to Play: Connecting Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury to Adaptive Sports and Fitness Resources” offers an overview of the Family Medicine-run program, which helps individuals living with spinal cord injuries with access to adaptive sports activities and rehabilitation support.
“As I reflect on the MDisability Summer Internship Program, this experience has allowed me to gain a broader understanding of the various types of disabilities, the barriers faced by each group, and the practical ways to address these barriers and challenges,” Said Kessler. “Specifically, with my work with Prescription to Play, I was able to be a part of an initiative that is actively making strides to better the lives of individuals with spinal cord injury.”
Kessler is an exercise science and pre-med major at Murray State University and hopes to graduate in 2023. Additional information about her internship and the program can be found by reading the Michigan Medicine article here.
Lacey Latimer
Congratulations to Lacey Latimer on being featured in “Dietary, nutrition guidelines offered to help prevent cancer or cope with treatment,” an article in the Oct. 21 publication of the Murray Ledger & Times. In the article Latimer shares information on recommended diets to help reduce the risk of cancer and other related risk factors.
“The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute of Cancer Research developed these recommendations in 2018, which I believe is the most updated one for cancer prevention,” said Latimer. “It’s all nutrition-related. First, we know that obesity or being overweight is correlated with increased risk of cancer, so maintaining a healthy weight by balancing energy intake and exercise is recommended. Being physically active in itself has also been shown to help reduce some risk for developing cancer.
“Eating diets rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans – all good sources of nutrients –and limiting consumption of fast food and other processed foods that are high in fat, starches or sugars (are recommended). We know some specific things that can contribute to cancer, (and studies) have found associations between cancer development and nitrates and nitrites that are in processed meats. So, the more we can eat whole, fresh food, the less chance we have of getting some of those carcinogens in us.”
The Murray Ledger & Times article can be found here.
Dr. Jennifer Rogers, Dr. Summer Cross, Dr. Dina Byers, Dr. Janice Thurmond, Dr. Anna Fowler, Dr. Kristin Reid and Dr. Dana Todd
Help us congratulate Dr. Jennifer Rogers, Dr. Summer Cross, Dr. Dina Byers, Dr. Janice Thurmond, Dr. Anna Fowler, Dr. Kristin Reid and Dr. Dana Todd on their recent publication acceptance titled “College Faculty Experiences with Online Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The manuscript will be published in the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice.
Pictured right is Dr. Jennifer Rogers.
Pictured first row, left to right are Dr. Summer Cross, Dr. Dina Byers and Dr. Janice Thurmond.
Pictured second row, left to right are Dr. Anna Fowler, Dr. Kristin Reid and Dr. Dana Todd.
Dr. Rebecca Parker-Bell
Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Parker-Bell on being named one of Vue Magazine’s 40 under Forty in their Sept., 2022 issue. Dr. Parker-Bell is the owner of Therapy Specialists of Murray located in Murray, Kentucky. She graduated with her bachelor’s in exercise science at Murray State University in 2016 and her doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Evansville in 2019. You can read more about her accomplishments here.
Brittany Wiggins
Join us in congratulating Brittany Wiggins on being named one of Vue Magazine’s 40 under Forty in their Sept., 2022 issue. Wiggins is the owner of, and trainer at, Brittany Wiggins Fitness. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition in 2017 from Murray State University. More details about her accomplishments can be found here.
Kimberly Minter-Verge
Join us in welcoming Kimberly Minter-Verge to the public and community health faculty in the School of Nursing and Health Professions. This semester she will teach personal health, healthcare planning and health policy. Next semester she is set to teach personal health, health behavior and foundations of community health education. Minter-Verge also serves as an adjunct instructor in health and human performance at Austin Peay State University and has previously taught courses in nutrition education, health behavior change and financial health.
“My favorite part of teaching is interacting with my students, learning from them and seeing and hearing the ‘lightbulb’ moment happen for them,” said Minter-Verge.
Prior to joining Murray State University, Minter-Verge was a family and consumer sciences (FCS) extension agent in Montgomery county, Tennessee. During her time there she was awarded the Juanita H. Fasola Foundation grant to educate young adults in their personal finances. In 2016 she also became a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHESⓇ) recognized by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC).
Minter-Verge earned her bachelor of science degree in liberal studies from Middle Tennessee State University in 2011. In 2016 she completed her master of science degree in health and human performance with a concentration in public health leadership from Austin Peay State University. She is currently learning about assessment, learning and student success in higher education through her doctoral program at Middle Tennessee State University and expects to graduate fall, 2024. Her favorite area of research is childhood obesity.
One of her favorite hobbies is singing, although it has been a while since she was able to sing as part of a group. She also loves spending time with family and learning new and interesting facts.
Halloween murder mystery
On Oct. 20, Dr. Candace Alvey’s first-semester occupational therapy students enrolled in occupational therapy foundations engaged in an immersive role-play activity. The experience is designed to foster critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and interviewing skills needed to construct an occupational profile, along with other foundational skills essential to occupational therapy (OT) practice. This problem-based experiential learning activity is conducted each year in October to coincide with the role-play mechanics and theme of a Halloween murder mystery.
One-to-two weeks prior to the in-class activity, students are assigned a specific character and provided pre-activity assignments to complete in preparation for the learning experience. The pool of characters spans a wide variety of cultural, demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds and disabilities. During the entire in-class activity, students assume the role of their assigned character, both in attire and personal characteristics. Student characters then interview each other to gather pertinent information and are required to switch between various clinical reasoning types while gathering information. Students then use the information they gathered, along with provided clues, to problem solve and conclude, “whodunit.”
Afterwards students are provided an opportunity to discuss their experience in class and are assigned a reflective paper to individually reflect and discuss their processes and justifications for the conclusions they reached, the proficiencies needed to develop successful interviewing skills, and the identification of clinical reasoning types used to determine “whodunit” during the gameplay experience.
Pictured right is Dr. Candace Alvey and Michael Crowe.
Pictured below, top row left to right are Dr. Sherri Powers; student “victims” Alaina White and Lexi Ricks; and students asking questions during the experience.
Pictured bottom is a group photo of the event participants.
School of Nursing & Health Professions
Our school offers many different health careers that offer you the opportunity to influence the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
Website: http://www.murraystate.edu/sonhp
Location: 120 Mason Hall, Murray, KY 42071
Phone: 270-809-2193
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msusonhp/
Twitter: @sonhpmsu