School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences

King Yang Kwok, MS-NU ’13, SLPD ’23 was featured on Radio Television Hong Kong, where she discussed her journey from music therapist to speech-language pathologist, the role of SLPs in different settings, and the impact she’s making as an SLP here in the US. Since there is limited access to speech-language pathologists in Hong Kong, Dr. Kwok hopes her appearance on the radio show will reach more audiences and inspire more people to become SLPs.

Joshua Hartzell, MD, MS-HPEd ’17 recently published A Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership: Building a Culture of Compassion and Excellence. "This book is based on the simple yet powerful idea that healthcare workers will take care of the patients, trainees, and each other if the leaders take care of them,” said Hartzell. “I hope this book will provide leaders with a way to take care of their teams that they haven’t in the past!”

Rachel Pittman, PhD-HPEd ’24, MS-HPEd ’21 recently became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. “This certification has given me the confidence to think like an educational leader. It has also provided me new perspectives on simulation education that will support my goal of creating better integration between skills, simulation, and standardized patients,” said Pittmann about the certification’s impact on her career. 

Dawn Wawersik, PhD-HPEd ’22 took on the role of dean of academic affairs in nursing at Chamberlin University's campus in Miramar, FL. “This is an exciting opportunity to foster innovation, mentorship, and student success in a dynamic learning environment,” she said. 

Laura Magee, OTD ’20 opened a small business called Psych Safe Supplies to address the lack of safe, adult-oriented leisure and coping products for the adult psychiatric inpatient population. “This is one of the toughest times in a patient’s life; their belongings are taken away and replaced with materials designed for children, which can negatively impact their self-esteem,” says Magee, who came up with the idea while working as a full-time in-patient psychiatric OT.  She hopes that the products she sells help to maintain a patient’s dignity while they engage in meaningful and self-regulating activities.  

Kari Thorsen, MS-GC '23, shared insights into the work she does as well as offered advice on how to get family health history conversations started in the article, "Now's the Time to Discuss Family Health History."

Brock Bodily, MPAS '19, a specialist in personal injury care, shared his expertise navigating the intersection of medicine and legal considerations, discussing how advanced practice practitioners play a vital role in patient recovery and advocacy on The Many Minds podcast.

Emily Thatcher, MPAS ’18  is the lead author on the Annals of Emergency Medicine case report “A Pregnant Woman with Vaginal Bleeding,” published in November 2024. The case report describes a patient who was diagnosed with superfetation, a rare phenomenon when a dichorionic-diamniotic pregnancy has two separate fertilization and implantation dates, causing a discordance in fetus size.

Jason Adour, PT, DPT ’10, GCS, founder and president of the Balance Centers, was awarded the Neurology Special Interest Group Chair’s Excellence Award by Maine APTA. This award celebrates professionals who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing the standards and impact of the physical therapy profession.

Bobby Belarmino, DPT '06, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Acute Care Physical Therapy as associate editor.

Christopher Bise, DPT '10, is the 2024 recipient of the APTA's Jack Walker Award. This award honors an author or team whose published study in PTJ: Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal presents novel and innovative research related to patient care and advanced clinical science, as it pertains to the physical therapy profession.

Daniel Cahaly, DPT '19, has returned to his hometown of Hopkinton, MA to provide care to pediatric patients at his recently opened private practice called Hopkinton Pediatric Therapy Center.

Robin Dole, DPT '09 was appointed to the 2025 American Physical Therapy Association Board of Directors. She will serve as vice speaker of the house.