September 2016

9/9: Assessing is Part of Prevention: Some Basic Facts About Suicide in Montana

Blair Davison, MD
Providence Psychiatry

Blair Davison attended and graduated from University Washington School of Medicine as Montana WWAMI student.  She completed "triple board" residency training in pediatrics, psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island. She’s been in Missoula since 2008 with Providence St Patrick Hospital, Providence Psychiatry. Currently, Blair is the physician director of WWAMI Missoula Track, and current president of MT psychiatric association.

9/16: Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Margaret Menendez, MD
Providence Health & Services

For the past 19 years, Dr. Margaret Menendez has been a radiation oncologist at St Patrick Hospital.   Her undergraduate education was at University of Georgia, followed by a physician's assistant program and medical school at Medical College of Georgia.  Her residency and internship were at University of Utah Health Sciences Center.

9/23: Restriction of Powassan Virus in a White-Footed Mouse Model

Luwanika Mlera, MSc., PhD
Laboratory of Virology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories

Luwanika Mlera is a senior postdoctoral fellow under Dr Marshall Bloom in the Biology of Vector-Borne Viruses Section of the Laboratory of Virology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. His research focuses on studying mechanisms of vector-borne flavivirus persistence and modeling host responses to infection. He received a PhD in Biochemistry from the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. His PhD studies were aimed at developing a rotavirus reverse genetics system. Prior to that, he received a Master of Science degree with merit from Staffordshire University, UK. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Zimbabwe and he worked as a medical laboratory scientist for some time. Here is a link to his publications: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=mlera

9/30: Using Trust, Disclosure and Communication to Reduce Risk

Martha Raymond, Esq
Associate Vice President, Risk Claims & Insurance, Providence Health & Services

Martha Raymond is the Vice President of Risk, Claims & Insurance for Providence Health & Services.  She has been with Providence for eight years.  Prior to coming to Providence, Martha was represented physicians and health care facilities in malpractice litigation.  Martha’s passion is soccer, which she either watches or plays 3-6 times a week. 

October

10/7: Global Health

Darin Bell, MD & Justin Perry, MD
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Darin Bell attended Medical School at UT Southwestern in Dallas, and did a residency in family medicine at the Alaska Family Medicine Residency Program in Anchorage Alaska.  He spent several years working in small clinics and hospitals both on and off the road system throughout Alaska.  During that time he made several medical volunteer trips to Africa and South East Asia.  For the last three years he has lived in Missoula, teaching at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, and until recently, working as a hospitalist at St Patrick Hospital.   He currently serves as the Associate Director for Rural Education.  He recently returned from a multidisciplinary health care educational/volunteer trip to Gondar, Ethiopia where they are working on starting the second family medicine residency program in the country. 

Justin Perry attended Medical School at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and is currently a 3rd year resident at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, here in Missoula.  He recently returned from a multidisciplinary health care educational trip to Gondar, Ethiopia with the goal of learning and also supporting efforts of starting a family medicine residency program.  Prior to medical school he had spent over a year in total working on volunteer projects in Kenya, Vietnam, and Cambodia and has an interest to continue doing such work in the future.

10/14:  Searching for New Drug-Like Molecules in an Acid Mine Waste Lake 

Andrea Stierle, PhD
University of Montana

Andrea Stierle is a natural products organic chemist who utilizes targeted bioassay-guided fractionation to isolate secondary metabolites from source organisms.  She earned her doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Montana State University where she discovered the first host specific toxin against the weed pest spotted knapweed and found that certain bioactive sponge metabolites were actually produced by bacterial endosymbionts.  Following post-doctoral fellowships at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Montana State University, she was hired as a Research Assistant Professor at Montana State University where she discovered a fungus in the bark of the Pacific yew tree that produced taxol in de novo fashion.  This unique fungus – Taxomyces andreanae - was named after Andrea, its discoverer.

As a Research Professor at Montana Tech, Andrea – and her collaborator Donald Stierle - began the exploration of the secondary metabolites of extremophilic fungi in Berkeley Pit Lake. In 2009 Andrea and Don moved their research laboratory to the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montana where they continue to explore the drug-like properties of the bioactive secondary metabolites of mine waste extremophiles.

10/21: Sharing a Dementia Diagnosis With Your Patient: What now?

Dick Blank, MD (former long-term caregiver)
Larry Klika, Retired Registered Pharmacist (newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s)
Lynn Mullowney Cabrera, Executive Director, Montana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association

Larry Klika is a retired clinical Pharmacist. He received his education from Oregon State University. Larry was a medication management pharmacist for Kaiser Permanente for many years. As a cardiovascular specialist, he managed the direct care of patients, monitoring and adjusting medications according to physician protocols.   Larry was diagnosed with Early Stage Alzheimer’s disease in September 2015. 

Dick Blank is a retired physician. Dick received his M.D. from Marquette University in Wisconsin.  He was a radiologist in Wisconsin and North Dakota for many years. Dick was the primary caregiver for his wife, Pat, who had early Alzheimer’s disease. 

Lynn Mullowney is the Executive Director at Alzheimer’s Association Montana Chapter. She studied communication and journalism at the University of Montana. She worked with the Alzheimer’s Association Orange County Chapter before returning to Montana in 2015.

10/28: The Pregnant Patient for the Non-OB Provider

Sarah Watson, DO
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana (FMRWM)

Sarah Watson is a third year family medicine resident at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana and has a strong interest in obstetrics in primary care.   She trained at Ohio State University for a degree in Human Nutrition and went to medical school at Ohio University.  Sarah has been involved in a number of obstetrical research studies through my training, including a current project at CMC with Dr. Fausett. 

November

11/4: The Muliple Roles of Physical Therapy 
*This presentation is at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Pam Nation, PT
Community Medical Center

Pamela Nation, MS, PT, CBIS has been enjoying her practice of physical therapy since 2002.   Initially, she immersed herself in the world of rehabilitation with people recovering from neurological injuries.  That practice burgeoned out to include oncology, pediatrics, wound care, orthopedics, aquatics and manual therapy, as well as a continued passion for those with neurological injuries.  Throughout, her focus continues with whole person interventions, listening to feedback from her patients and creating dynamic treatment plans to address the individual needs of each person.   From staff PT, to clinical leader in Neurology, new program initiatives, teaching neurology lab to PT students,  a brief foray into management, and now happily back to full-time patient care, Pam arrived in Missoula last summer from the east.  Working at Community Medical Center in and out-patient departments allows Pam to enjoy a wealth of interesting individuals with the support of wonderful colleagues.

11/11: NO PRESENTATION - Veterans Day

11/18: Human Movement Control: A Window into Understanding the Deleterious Effects of mTBI and Other Neural Insults

Alex Santos, PhD
University of Montana

Alessander Danna-dos-Santos is a Brazilian trained physical therapist who has completed his PhD in human motor control at the age of 33 years from The Penn State University and postdoctoral studies from Arizona State University School of Kinesiology. He is the director of the Motor Control Laboratory and director of the Anatomy Laboratory of the School of Physical Therapy of the University of Montana.  He has published in reputed journals such the Journal of Neurophysiology, Experimental Brain Research, Scientific Reports (Nature) and his studies are applicable to both areas of basic and clinical sciences. His current interests include the improvement in the quantification methods intended to recognize long-term effects of concussive events.    

11/25: NO PRESENTATION - Thanksgiving Holiday

December

12/2: Robotic Surgery
*This presentation is at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Nathan Richards, MD
Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT

Dr. Richards is a general surgeon in Salt Lake City and specializes in minimally invasive surgery of the foregut and abdominal wall using advanced laparoscopy and robotics. He operates primarily at LDS Hospital and Intermountain Medical Center and practices at the Intermountain Avenues Specialty Clinic. Since joining Intermountain Healthcare in 2013,
Dr. Richards has focused on advancing robotic surgery in an appropriate and responsible manner. He performed the first robotic assisted heller myotomy in the state of Utah, and was also the first surgeon in Utah to perform a robotic assisted Whipple procedure in December 2014. In addition, he also pioneered robotic central pancreatectomy, robotic transduodenal sphincteroplasty, and spleen sparing robotic distal pancreatectomy. He also has extensive experience in robotic incisional hernia repair and colectomy.
Dr. Richards is the general surgery representative on the Intermountain Health Care Robotics Development Committee and focuses on implementing safe, data-centered, and cost-effective utilization of robotic surgery within general surgery.

12/9: Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment

Nicole Breen, DO
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Nicole was born and raised in Dillon, MT. She attended Gonzaga University and got her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She went to osteopathic medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. She is currently a third year family medicine resident at Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana and has strong interests in obstetrical care and osteopathic manipulation. 

12/16: Encountering the Self:A discussion of Mental Illness, Mindfullness and Wellbeing

Jesse Charles, MD
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Jesse was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He studied Natural History at the University of Wisconsin. During his undergraduate years, he worked as a wildfire ecology field assistant in Grand Teton National Park. He studied medicine at the University of Wisconsin and came to love rural family practice.  He’s interested in emergency and wilderness medicine, as well as palliative care. His work with the terminally ill has taught him that helping patients live fulfilling lives is just as important as helping them live longer lives. He hopes to make this ethos the foundation of his medical practice.

12/23: NO PRESENTATION - Christmas Holiday

12/30: NO PRESENTATION - New Year Holiday

January 2017

1/6: Kidney Transplant*
*This presentation is at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Titte R. Srinivas,MD
Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT
https://intermountainhealthcare.org/

Dr. Titte Srinivas is a transplant nephrologist with Intermountain Healthcare. He has had extensive clinical experience in kidney and pancreas transplantation spanning the last 17 years. He comes to Intermountain Healthcare having previously served at the Medical University of South Carolina as the Director of Transplant Nephrology and at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Florida prior to that. His clinical practice spans the gamut of transplant nephrology with a special focus on paired kidney donation. His research interests are centered on outcomes of kidney transplantation, living donor wellness, clinical trials in immunosuppression and Big Data initiatives in Kidney Transplantation.

1/13: HealthCARE Montana

Kaye Norris, PhD
Mary Nielson, RN
HealthCare Montana

Dr. Kaye Norris is the Project Director of HealthCARE Montana, a $15,000,000 Department of Labor funded program. She is overseeing the implementation at the Lead Institution, which is Missoula College, serves as liaison to the other 14 colleges that are part of the project; and provides senior-level strategic communication and project management oversight for the implementation of all activities and objectives to ensure that they are completed on time and within budget.  Dr. Norris possesses a PhD in Experimental Psychology, and prior to HealthCARE Montana she served as the Assistant Director for the Western Montana AHEC where she provided direction for healthcare workforce development and continuing education services.  In the past she was the Program Director of the Montana Pain Initiative, and the Director of Research at Life’s End Institute in Missoula.

Mary Nielson has been an RN for 40 years graduating with BSN from College of Saint Theresa in Minnesota.  Earned a Master’s Degree in Nursing Education in 1999 from Clarkson College in Nebraska.  Her career as an RN began in Minnesota in the Mayo Clinic Rehabilitation Center.   After moving to Montana in 1978, she worked in rehabilitation, acute care, emergency room care, and home health and hospice care. The last 20 years she has been in academia, just receiving a 20 year service pin from University of Montana. She served as nursing faculty and Nursing Program Director at Missoula College, joining HealthCARE Montana as the Nursing Curriculum Director in 2014. 

HealthCARE Montana, a $15,000,000 grant funded by the US Department of Labor, is connecting employer and education partners to develop high quality, locally accessible, industry relevant training opportunities.  Adult learners, including rural workers, veterans, Native Americans, and unemployed Montanans are being trained for high-demand, high-skilled, and highly-paid jobs in the healthcare industry.  HealthCARE Montana is expanding access to nursing and allied health programs through distance technology, work-based learning experiences, and homegrown innovations.  Increasing credential completion and employment will overcome workforce challenges in frontier and remote communities.  

During this presentation you will learn about

  • Current workforce status of Montana nurses
  • State nursing curriculum revision for Practical Nursing (PN), Associate Degree Nursing (ASN), and Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) Completion to reduce cost and time-to-graduation
  • Streamlining allied health curriculum to increase opportunities to ladder and lattice between career pathways
  • Impact of employer participation in curriculum development and work-based learning

1/20:  Spiders of Medical Importance and Misdiagnoses of Bites 

Laurie Kerzicnik, PhD
Monatana State University

Laurie Kerzicnik is an Arthropod Diagnostician and Assistant IPM Specialist for Montana State University Extension in Bozeman.  Her work focuses on urban arthropods and education.  She has a Master’s and PhD in Entomology from Colorado State University and has worked with spiders for over 20 years.  Her background is with integrated pest management and spiders as pest control agents in agroecosystems. 

1/27: Learning Genomic Medicine and Applying it

 Stephen Johnson, MD

Stephen Johnson has worked as a neurologist in Missoula since 1977.  He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan, and he continued with post-graduate training at the University of New Mexico and McGill University in Montreal.  He is board certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, internal medicine, and sleep medicine.   He is the author or co-author of 25 publications in medical journals.  Currently he is a special volunteer at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in Hamilton.

February

2/3: Management of Benign Breast Conditions*
 *This presentation is at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Elizabeth Suh, MD
Community Medical Center

Dr. Suh graduated from UCLA School of Medicine in 1993, and then completed General Surgery Residency at the University of Arizona-Tucson Hospital program in 1998.  She moved to Missoula in 2002, after having a busy solo private practice for 4 years in Tucson, Arizona. Breast Surgery and Breast Health has been her special interest since she has been in practice.  She is the Medical Director of Montana Breast Health at the Community Cancer Care and Prevention Center, where they also run a genetics education and counseling program and High Risk Breast Cancer Screening program with Advanced Imaging.

2/10: Refugee Healthcare in Montana

Nerissa Koehn, MD
Rachel LaRocca, MD
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Dr. Nerissa Koehn is a native of Missoula. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and did her residency training at Tacoma Family Medicine. Prior to moving back to Missoula in 2011, she worked for the Indian Health Service in Zuni, NM for 8 years where she provided full-spectrum family medicine and was the Director of the Women’s Health Program. She is currently the Associate Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program of Western Montana. 

Rachel LaRocca hails from New Hampshire. She attended Dartmouth College and then began work at the Depression Clinical Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. After completing two years as a research assistant, she received her post-baccalaureate pre-medical certification from Bryn Mawr College and returned to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth for medical school. She is currenty a first-year resident at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana. 

2/17: Liver Transplant

Richard Gilroy, MD
Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City
https://intermountainhealthcare.org/

Dr. Gilroy leads our multi-disciplinary healthcare team that has broad expertise in the diagnosis and management of all forms of hepatobiliary diseases.  This includes state-of-the-art approaches to diagnosis and management of viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease and hepatobiliary malignancies. Dr. Gilroy attended University of Queensland Medical School; did a Gastroenterology & Hepatology fellowship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and another Gastroenterology & Hepatology Fellowship at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. He was a Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Liver Transplant at the University of Kansas Medical Center; a former Medical Director of Liver Transplantation at the University of Kansas Hospital; and a former Medical Director of Intestinal Failure at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is American Board of Internal Medicine certified; Kansas State Board of Healing Arts licensed; an American Society of Transplant Surgeons Member; AASLD Nurse Practitioner Training Grant Mentor Recipient; Former Chair of the Educational Committee Institute of Medicine; and a Royal Australian College of Physicians Member.

2/24: Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine in Clinical Practice

Erica Woodahl, PhD
University of Montana

Erica Woodahl received a B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame in 1998 and a Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Washington in 2004. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacokinetics at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. She joined the faculty at the University of Montana in 2007 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012.

The research in the Woodahl lab is in the field of pharmacogenomics — the study of the relationship between genetic variation and response to drug therapy. Genetic variation in genes important in drug disposition alters the pharmacokinetics and ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination) of many therapeutic compounds. Our research focuses on pharmacogenomics in drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters to understand interindividual variability in drug response and toxicity.

March

3/3: Atrial Fibrillation and Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion
*This presentation is at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Steve A. Shepro, MCHS, PA-C
Daniel S. Spoon, MD
International Heart Institute of MT

Steve Shepro is a Physician Assistant and the Left Atrial Appendage Clinical Supervisor in the Structural Heart Program at the International Heart Institute, Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana. Over the past 20 years Steve has also worked as a Wilderness-EMT/Paramedic in several positions: EMT for Missoula Emergency Services, EMT for the Madison Fire Department, and Paramedic/ER-Tech at Teton Valley Healthcare, Senior Lead Instructor for Aerie Backcountry Medicine, Guide for Mt. Rainier Alpine Guides, International Mountain Guides, the Whitewater Rescue Institute, and Ship’s Medic for Greenpeace International. Steve has volunteered as President of the Western Montana Mountain Rescue Team, Team Member of Missoula County Search and Rescue, National Ski Patrol Volunteer Patroller, and is the Co-Founder of the Idaho AED Initiative. Steve is also an Eagle Scout. He and his wife live in Missoula and are excited new parents of an energetic little boy. They love to ski, bike, climb, hike, and float the river together in their free-time.

3/10: Clinical Utility and Evidence for Point of Care Ultrasound

Nick Blake, MD  
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Nick grew up in a rural town in western Oregon.  He attended Oregon State University for undergrad, then Oregon Health and Science University for medical school. 

3/17: Getting Past Noncompliance

Tim Caramore, MD
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana
Providence Health & Services 

Tim Caramore, MD is originally from Albany, New York.  He graduated from the famed Albany Medical College in 2009, and did his residency training in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  He is a core faculty member with the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, and has worked since 2012 as a hospitalist at Providence St Patrick Hospital.  He has served as the chair of the St Pat's Ethics Committee since 2013.  He is at work on a master's degree in bioethics.

3/24: Cultural Awareness in Caring For Our Patients

Neil Sun Rhodes, MD   
Indian Health Service

Dr. Neil Sun Rhodes is a family medicine physician at the IHS Blackfeet Community Hospital in Browning, Montana. He received his undergraduate education from Montana State University in Bozeman in 2000 and his MD and MPH from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon in 2006. His residency was completed in Billings in 2009 at the Montana Family Medicine Residency. He has provided full spectrum care in Browning since 2009, including primary care, urgent care, emergency room care, hospitalist medicine and obstetrics care including labor and delivery.

Dr. Sun Rhodes supervises residents and health professions students rotating through Browning as well as WWAMI students during their summer Rural Underserved Opportunities Program. Since 2013, Dr. Sun Rhodes has served on the Montana WWAMI Admissions Committee. He is a regular guest at MSU, having presented several times to the Montana WWAMI students during their Rural Health Class and he helps to arrange the students' annual service learning visit to Browning.

3/31: Cancer Moonshot

Thomas Brown, MD, MBA
Swedish Cancer Institute
www.SwedishCancerInstitute.org 

Thomas Brown, MD, MBA is Executive Director of Swedish Cancer Institute, and Co-Chair of the Cancer Leadership Council for Providence Health & Services.  He served as COO of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, and on the faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Duke University.   He graduated from Johns Hopkins University, with an MBA from Rice University, and a medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia; completing a medical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. His research has focused on developmental therapeutics. Dr. Brown serves on numerous boards, to include: Institute for Systems Biology; P4 Medicine Institute; and the American Cancer Society.

April

4/7: Foreign Body Aspiration-Pediatrics* 
*This presentation located at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Paul Smith, DO
Community Medical Center

Paul Smith D.O. is director of Pediatric Critical Care and Pulmonary Services at Community Medical Center.  He was previously director of Pediatric Critical Care Services at MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland Ohio and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University where completed his fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care.  He is also Research Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Montana where he is director of the University of Montana Pediatric Idea States Research Center.

4/14: Health Justice: Real Problems-Practical Solutions

Clinicians and public health professionals face justice issues regarding individual and population health. Focused on Missoula and the region, panelists will summarize specific challenges and concrete responses. Discussion will follow.

John Stone, MD, PhD
Creighton University School of Medicine

John R. Stone is a physician (cardiologist) and philosopher/bioethicist; Professor, Creighton University School of Medicine, Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Omaha, Nebraska. He is Graduate Faculty for the Master of Science Program in Health Care Ethics of Creighton’s Center for Health Policy and Ethics. He also serves as Co-Director of Creighton’s Center for Promoting Health and Health Equality. John targets health justice, stressing health inequalities, through scholarship, programs, and teaching. See his profile at: http://www.creighton.edu/chpe/people/facultystaff/johnstone/

Annie Belcourt, PhD
University of Montana

Annie Belcourt is an Associate Professor at the University of Montana's Departments of Pharmacy Practice/Community and Public Health Services.

Lisa Beczkiewicz
Health Promotion, Missoula City-County Health Department

Lisa Beczkiewicz is a Health Promotion Supervisor for the Missoula City-County Health Department.

*Jan VanRiper, JD, PhD will moderate the panel.

 

4/21: Personalized Medicine (This presentation will be a live stream from Seattle).

Nitin Baliga, PhD
Institute for Systems Biology
https://www.systemsbiology.org/research/p4-medicine/

4/28: ID Cases

Claude Tonnerre, MD
Providence Health and Services

Dr. Claude Tonnerre is currently a hospitalist and outpatient Infectious Diseases Specialist at for Providence Medical Group at St Patrick Hospital.  He began his extensive medical training in Switzerland at the University of Geneva, followed by a volunteer residency at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Israel, and then a residency at St Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA.  His Infectious Diseases Fellowship was at University of Utah Medical Center.  Additionally, he was a resident and chief resident at Hopital Pourtales in Neuchatel Switzerland. Dr. Tonnerre is an active member of several professional committees; presented at many professional conferences and co-authored several articles.  His professional memberships include the American College of Physician, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Massachusetts Medical Society, Swiss Medical Association.  He speaks fluent French and English, plus has a good knowledge of German.

May

5/5: Refractory Chronic Cough and the Role of Behavioral Cough Suppression Therapy (BCST)
*This presentation located at Community Medical Center, Gallagher Room

Laurie Slovarp, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
University of Montana
http://coehs.umt.edu/about/People/csd.php?ID=2446

Dr. Laurie Slovarp, PhD received her master’s degree in speech and hearing sciences from Arizona State University in 2000 and a PhD in Independent Interdisciplinary Studies in 2015 from University of Montana. She worked as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in hospital, acute rehab, outpatient rehab, and home health settings in Arizona and Montana for 10 years before pursuing her PhD. Dr. Slovarp was the first to bring fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) to  Western Montana and was the first SLP to become a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders in Montana. She began working as an assistant professor in the CSD Department at University of Montana in the spring of 2010. She teaches courses in neuroanatomy, voice and motor speech disorders, and swallowing disorders. Dr. Slovarp is now the director of the Swallowing Translational Research Outcomes for Neuromuscular Gains (STRONG) lab. Her research interests include behavioral treatment for chronic cough, efficacy of swallowing exercises, and prophylactic dysphagia intervention in patients with head and neck cancer. 

 

5/12: New Recommendations for Gastric Acid Suppression

Emma Wright, MD  
Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana

Emma grew up on a small farm in Vermont. She had a circuitous route to medicine after an undergraduate degree at Harvard in Social Studies and 2 years living in Mali, West Africa with the Peace Corps. She graduated from Dartmouth Medical School and is now a third year resident at the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana. She will be staying at Partnership Health Center as a full-time clinician after graduation next month.

5/19: Special Presentation: Understanding Lupus, 7:30-9:00am

Rebecca Belsom, MD
Western MT Clinic

Rebecca Belsom, MD has been a Rheumatologist at Western Montana Clinic since 2015.  Previously, she was at the Baton Rouge Clinic in Louisiana.  Dr. Belsom completed her medical education at LSU Health Sciences Center School of Medicine; an internal medicine residency at Louisiana State University’s Earl K. Long Medical Center; and a Rheumatology Fellowship at University of Alabama.  Her board certifications include American Board of Internal Medicine, and Board Certification in Rheumatology.  She’s a member of the American College of Rheumatology.

May 19th is our final presentation of the season.  We resume Friday September 15th.