Belmont alumna Carla Wood was recently appointed to president of Altos Solutions, a web-based software company specializing in community-based oncology practices.
“Carla Wood brings to our company an impressive experience in both the oncology industry in general and in Altos Solutions specifically, “ said co-founder and CEO of Altos Solutions, John Willey II. “Her thorough knowledge of customer needs and the oncology industry are a perfect fit for leading Altos to greater product development and market share.”
Wood has had her share of contributions during her time at Altos. She assisted in establishing both the customer support and training departments, while working closely with the product development team. She pioneered the use of electronic medical record (EMR)-based alerts to provide on-label clinical information directly to the physician, as well as defined and managed the first certification of an oncology EMR.
“Throughout my tenure at Altos, I’ve seen the leading edge thinking and product development to which the company is committed,” Woods said. “I am looking forward to leading Altos Solutions in the ongoing enhancement of cancer care in the U.S.”
Wood received her first degree at Belmont in 1985, then continued on to the University of Memphis for her B.S. and M.S. in psychology. Although Wood stayed in Memphis and worked in oncology for 13 years she says she still considers Belmont her college home.
Alumna Named President of Altos Solutions
Pharmacy Faculty, Student Participate in AACP Annual Meeting
Eight of the Belmont University School of Pharmacy faculty and one student pharmacist recently traveled to San Antonio to participate in the 2011 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting, themed Bridges to Our Bright Future. At the event Shanna N. Harris was recognized as a Walmart pharmacy scholar, sponsored by Dr. Marilyn E. Thompson Odom. Belmont presented four posters, titled “Meeting Market Needs: Curricular Concentration Requirement to Broaden Student Career Prospects,” “Support Groups and Identity: Influence on Setting and Achieving Goals in Persons with Type 2 Diabetes,” “An On-Campus Community Pharmacy to Support Medication Safety Skills: Use of a Unique Educational Resource” and “Development and Implementation of a Collaborative Interprofessional Learning Program.” In addition, three Belmont faculty served as delegates, or alternate delegate, in the AACP House of Delegates, and Dr. Andrew Webster, chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Belmont, served as academic section officer and chair-elect of the section on chemistry. Faculty who were meeting participants, presenters, delegates, or alternate delegate included Drs. Cathy Ficzere, Angela Hagan, Condit Steil, Hope Campbell, Ken Reed and Phil Johnston.
Belmont Hosts Tennessee Arts Academy Summer Conference
The Tennessee Arts Academy (TAA) has hosted its summer conference at Belmont University for 24 years, and this week Belmont opened its doors for another round as TAA welcomed 275 K-12 educators to learn how to integrate performing arts into their classrooms.
The week offered intensive workshops in four disciplines – music, theatre, visual arts and an administrator’s module. Both nationally and internationally recognized clinicians taught sessions, but the program wasn’t spent entirely in the classroom. Participants had the opportunity to spend a portion of every day in performances, guest lectures and presentations.
In addition to the daily schedule educators attended the annual Academy Bravo Banquet featuring Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch. Other highlights of the week included a performance by violin virtuoso Jourdan Urback and presentations by choral conductor Eph Ehly, Broadway musical theatre performer Robert Westenburg and photographer Linda Solomon.
TAA Managing Director Frank Bluestein said the experience the teachers have during the conference is life changing for their students. “The educators get very focused information in their field of study and inspiration that helps reinvigorate them for the challenging school year ahead… they will go back to their classrooms and impact over 100,000 students from all across the state,” Bluestein said. Click here to see more photos from this event.
Nonprofit Leadership Graduate Student Lands Role as Executive Director
Current Belmont graduate student Wiley Barnard has been named executive director of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame (www.alamhof.org). Starting August 1, 2011, he will oversee operations of the museum, strengthen relations with its inductees and work with state and local officials in promoting the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Barnard will earn a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership in the spring of 2012 from Belmont University.
The Alabama Music Hall of Fame’s mission is to recognize and honor musicians, primarily natives of Alabama, whose artistry has earned acclaim throughout the United States. Located in Tuscumbia, it also exists to encourage, enhance and reward the educational growth of musicians, both young and old.
Gustke Presents Paper
Charmion Gustke (English) presented “Social Networking at the Fin-de-Siècle: The Demise of Courtship in Edith Wharton and Willa Cather” at the Willa Cather International Seminar at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusettes on June 27. Gustke’s paper, a reading of Wharton’s Summer and Cather’s Lucy Gayheart, applies William James’s “stream of consciousness” to explore the elasticity and presence of American self-hood at the close of the 19th-century.
Magruder Publishes Paper
Robert Magruder’s (Chemistry & Physics) paper titled “Si Related Defects in the VUV in Silicon Multi-energy Implanted Type III Silica” has been accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B.
Flynn-Hopper Serves as Chair at TRA
Rachael Flynn-Hopper (Education) has been selected to serve as the chairperson for the Studies and Research Committee for the Tennessee Reading Association (TRA). She will be presenting a report at the Annual Leadership Conference July 14-15 at Montgomery Bell State Park about her efforts to create a community of collaboration between K-12 teachers and university faculty in the area of literacy research. Her focus will be to encourage action research in classrooms across the state to identify best practices and establish a community of teacher researchers.
Salama Urban Ministries Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Troutt Theater
Belmont University’s Troutt Theater will host a special production from The Salama Institute this weekend as the Christian-based nonprofit organization celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Dimensions, a Cavalcade of Music from Opera to Broadway will include performances of Porgy and Bess, The Wiz, West Side Story, Dreamgirls, Grease, Cinderella and Carousel.
“Salama is wrapping up its 25th year and these are shows that we have done over the last 10 years. We wanted to do kind of a cavalcade of previous Broadway shows we had done,” said Executive Director Stan Weber. “The performing arts are the discipline builders that we use to build students’ character, self-discipline, team work, team building, projection and confidence. Students who are involved in the performing arts have better conflict resolution skills because you have to work together to make the production work. We also use the production to talk about issues of life. Students get inside their characters and learn the time period of the social issues of that time. And it helps them with personal value discussions. We then apply a biblical perspective on how you should base your decisions. Cinderella is all about families in transition, and Grease is about teen pregnancy, and those are issues that students are dealing with.”
Nursing Students Excel in Summer Program at Vanderbilt Medical Center
For the past five weeks 22 Belmont undergraduate nursing students participated in the Vanderbilt Experience: Student Nurse Internship Program (VESNIP) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) along with students from three other regional nursing programs. VESNIP provides an opportunity for clinical rotations during a credited independent course through each school and participants work one-on-one with a VUMC preceptor.
Six Belmont nursing students were awarded the highest honors at the culminating awards ceremony held July 8 in the Teaching and Learning Center at VUMC. Of the 12 total awards given, six went to Belmont students. Chelsea Stevens and Kathryn Russ received Credo awards, Christopher Russell received a People Pillar award, Emily Tice received the Evidence-Based Practice Award (which came with one-year access to the VUMC biomedical library), Chelsea Shirley received an award for fulfilling all five of VUMC’s pillars, and Katherine McFarland received the Nightingale award for overall professional leadership.
Shirley was also singled out for her quick thinking in a crisis situation. According to her preceptor, she “stopped us from giving Amidate because she remembered [the patient] had an allergy… It was quick thinking and she said it loudly enough for the team to hear. Her preceptor, other nurses and I want to reward her for an action that prevented an allergic reaction that causes seizures.”
This is the seventh year of the VESNIP program, which began as a partnership between Belmont’s School of Nursing and VUMC and is an outgrowth of the dissertation work done by Belmont Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Leslie Fold. Dr. Folds leads Belmont’s efforts in the program and noted that “the caliber of students who are participating has increased each year.” The program has now expanded to a total of 62 students from four area nursing schools: Belmont, Austin Peay, Cumberland and Western Kentucky. The VESNIP positions are very competitive and are considered elite opportunities for students from around the region.
Pharmacy Students Lead Summer Day Camp
Students in Belmont’s School of Pharmacy hosted a Health Sciences Summer Day camp for 18 local middle and high school students on Thursday. After a morning orientation, the students, who came from Harvest Hands community development organization, were presented a healthcare scenario that involved a patient with high blood pressure. After breaking into teams, the students were then taught to take pulse and blood pressure readings on SimMen in the Inman Center labs.
Following lunch, the students participated in a problem solving process in the Drug Information Center where they searched for the formula for Lisinopril liquid, a common drug for treating hypertension. The students were then able to go to a chemistry lab in McWhorter Hall to see how the drug was made and later watched a video of the patient (SimMan) receiving and responding to the medication. Before departing, all of the students received certificates for their participation in Belmont’s Health Sciences Summer Day Camp.
