SHRS Blog

I am thrilled to announce that Associate Professor Mary Goldberg is now associate dean of Interprofessional Studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). Goldberg, previously the assistant dean of Interprofessional Studies, says, “I plan to serve as an advocate for interprofessional education and bring together our communities, using a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) lens to leverage SHRS' strengths and elevate unique inherent interprofessional disciplines and competencies across the Pitt health sciences and beyond.” 

Meet our current students in the Master of Sports Science program. They come from a variety of places, backgrounds and all bring a special perspective to the program. Find out what they are doing in their internships and what they love most about their time at Pitt!

Victoria D’Orto is a spring 2023 graduate of the Pitt Master of Science in Health Informatics (MSHI) program and was an intern with Operation Smile, a non-profit medical service in Norfolk, Virginia. The organization specializes in providing complete care surrounding cleft palate repair for those in low-to-middle-income countries and building the capacity of local health care workers to deliver safe and effective care to their communities. Operation Smile Vice President of Medical Quality Bryan Zimmerman is also a Pitt graduate, and although he did not go through the HI program, he recognizes the importance of working with other Pitt programs and helping students apply their skills.

"We regularly get asked about doctorates for PAs, as there is a trend towards this as a terminal degree for the PA profession". Check out David Beck's interview, featured on The PA Blueprint.

Pitt Physical Therapy had reason to celebrate at the 2023 APTA conference in San Diego. In a ceremony in front of his many friends and colleagues, Peter S. Zulia (BS ‘85) was inducted into the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapists Turner A Blackburn Hall of Fame/Lifetime Achievement Award as one of 29 members. This award is one of the highest and most prestigious awards of the Academy, dedicated to honoring members who have been nominated by their peers for making a lasting contribution to the specialty of sports physical therapy over their career.

Professor Emeritus Lynn Fitzgerald retired from the Physical Therapy Department at the end of June 2022. She joined the department in 1998 and served as the director of Clinical Education, where for 23 of those years she single-handedly managed the clinical education for the entry-level PT program. Under her tenure, the PT program transitioned from a Master of Physical Therapy to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. A hallmark of the nine-term DPT program was the yearlong clinical education experience, which was the culmination of our students’ clinical training that also included three part-time clinical education experiences consisting of 12 hours per week during the students’ second, third and fifth terms and a six-week full time experience in the students’ fourth term. On an annual basis, she managed the clinical education experiences for 180 students.

Upon acceptance into the University of Pittsburgh Health Informatics (HI) undergraduate program my sophomore year, I really had no idea what to expect. I figured maybe I’d end up part of hospital management or--best case scenario--become a hospital administrator. The program enabled me to dive deeper into an industry I didn’t think I would be capable of working in, and I had no idea I could become a data analyst. Throughout my first semester of study, I realized that I was gaining the credentials to sit in meetings with managers and partners in the consulting world.

Medical ultrasound imaging has been a reliable diagnostic tool for more than 50 years. But recent developments have changed the way the technology looks, the way it is used—and who is using it.

It all starts as a good old cheesy story: growing up, I always found it interesting to hear people’s stories, comfort my peers and help sort things out. When it was time to go to college, my family and I decided that I would study abroad here in the United States. I am originally from mainland China, more specifically from the province Nei Mongol. When I got to the United States, I studied at​ ​Carroll University in Wisconsin and received my undergraduate degree in psychology and later added a second major in graphic design to further explore my other interests. ...

One of the most exciting aspects of attending a university is learning from faculty who have been part of the evolution of their profession since they were students themselves. Department of Health Information Management (HIM) Assistant Professor Patti Anania-Firouzan’s career in health data began in the late 1970s when she was a new undergraduate student at Pitt. She believes that her journey is similar to many people who found themselves in health records administration (HRA). She had come to the university hoping to become an elementary school teacher, but at the time that career was difficult for a young person to break into. As many an undergraduate can relate to, she pondered other academic options trying to find a career path where she felt she belonged. ...

Sarah Arend, master's degree student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program, noticed that graduate students in health sciences programs spend so much time focusing on their studies and caring for others that they often neglect their own personal wellness needs. Some further investigation and research backed up this observation, showing that the pressure of completing a graduate degree can result in a variety of adverse outcomes, including burnout. Arend saw the Pitt Year of Emotional Well-Being funding opportunity, with its focus on restoring and enhancing our emotional well-being, as a way to address this problem.

The Olympic Games are considered the pinnacle of achievement for elite athletes, and the support teams that ensure they can perform at the highest level are also some of the best in the world. Like the athletes they care for, athletic trainers must put in their own hard-earned years of proficiency and intensity to give their athletes the competitive edge to excel and to win. Jamie Flynn, a graduate student in the University of Pittsburgh Sports Medicine program, has her eyes set on supporting athletes at the Olympic Games and is making the most of her experience at Pitt to reach that goal.