Student Spotlight
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Student accolades
Raynor selected for minority fellowship The National Advisory Committee of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) with the American Nurses Association (ANA) appointed Phyllis Raynor, PhD student, to this fellowship for the 20132014 academic year. The purpose of the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) is to reduce health disparities and improve health care outcomes of racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals available to underserved populations in the public and private nonprofit sectors. The MFP closely aligns with the Affordable Care Act and SAMHSA’s Eight Strategic Initiatives by addressing the current and projected behavioral health workforce shortages and the need to train providers on recovery-based practices. About 120 MFP Fellows are trained in an average year. Ms. Raynor is actively working towards becoming a public health nurse scientist focusing on research, prevention, public advocacy, and health promotion initiatives for low-income minority families affected by substance use disorders (SUD). She is concurrently pursuing both her PhD in Nursing, and advanced practice certification as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation research is focused on the development of self-care interventions for parents recovering from SUD with a goal of improving their long-term recovery outcomes and the health outcomes of their children. As a former state level nurse consultant partnering with school nurses in all school districts in South Carolina, Ms. Raynor was part of a school nurse leadership team that addressed alcohol and drug misuse in schools. She also witnessed the devastating effects of addiction for nurses involved in substance misuse situations while serving as a practice consultant for the South Carolina Board of Nursing. She explains, “One of the top violations against the Nurse Practice Act involves narcotics misuse.” In addition to these professional roles, Ms. Raynor has volunteered as a recovery support advocate, nurse educator, and health consultant for over 13 years in a faith-based community support program collaborating with various community and faith leaders to assist recovering adults (many of whom are parents) affected by SUD. She is a current member of the Board of Advisors for three residential faith-based recovery support community centers for adult men and women recovering from SUD. “I am thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity awarded to me by the SAMHSA MFP,” Ms. Raynor said. “It would not have been possible without the tremendous support I have received from all of the MUSC nursing faculty who continue to guide and keep me abreast of enriching programs like the SAMHSA MFP that foster my long-term research career. I am looking forward to the additional training in my field, and the supportive peer and professional network with multidisciplinary leaders who share my commitment and passion for eliminating health disparities and improving the lives of vulnerable families affected by mental health and substance use disorders. I am truly grateful.”
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Lifelines
Fall | Winter 2013
McDevitt elected president of student professional society Katie McDevitt, Acclerated BSN student, has been elected president of MUSC’s Student Interprofessional Society (SIPS). SIPS is a campus-wide student group dedicated to promoting the concept of interprofessional education on campus, in the community, and in practice after graduation. As future health care professionals, students at MUSC are expected to collaborate successfully with a wide spectrum of people outside their specialty. SIPS coordinates a variety of community service and social events designed to help students of all six MUSC colleges learn from, with, and about each other. Through such interaction, it is hoped to improve interprofessional collaboration and thus patient care and outcomes. Membership is open to all students.
Student to student mentoring leads to marriage When new students begin the Accelerated BSN program, they have hundreds of questions that often are best answered student to student. When Ashley Gallman, Class of December 2013, arrived on campus he was assigned Ellen Cary, Class of May 2013, as his mentor. Less than a year later, the two became engaged and were married in August. Currently Mrs. Gallman is working on a pediatric unit at MUHA and enrolled in the DNP program. Mr. Gallman will graduate in December and hopes to secure a position in a local ICU unit.