PT ALUMNI NEWS

FALL 2006

Francis Ng (1992) married Terri Milhollin of Atlanta on July 8, 2006. Francis met Terri on the mission field while serving in East Asia between 2001 and 2006. Currently, Francis is working with a team of medical professionals to utilize a Community Transformation approach to help rural people in East Asia to improve their basic health knowledge and personal hygiene while seeking and making use of abundant opportunities to share his personal Christian faith. Meanwhile, contact Francis at pop@pobox.com if you are interested in sharing time (from a few days to long-term assignments) to come and to make a real difference in the lives of these people.

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SPRING 2007

Kim Enlow Baxter (1996) now has two beautiful children: Bailey 2 years old and Owen 8 months old. She and her husband Duane recently moved back to Mobile serving as staff members with Campus Outreach on the USA campus.

Faith McElveen Berryman (1990) is a faculty member and ACCE in the PTA program at South University in Montgomery, AL.

Jeff Boyles (1991) recently completed two terms as President of the Alabama Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. He is now serving as a missionary in the village of San Juan in Southern Belize. He and Tiffany have a two year old daughter Ann Marie.

R. Barry Dale (1994) is an Assistant Professor in our department. He and his wife Tracy now have a son, Jackson, now nearing his first birthday.

Rich Evans (2001) now lives in Houston with wife Patricia (a pediatrician) and their second child is on the way. Rich lived and practiced PT in Socorro NM for three years.

Holly Lathinghouse Gunning (1993) completed her doctoral degree (EdD) in August 2005 in Curriculum and Instruction with a dissertation exploring the relationship between personality, professional behavior, and clinical experience. She has been on faculty of the PTA program at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City since 1998 and became the Coordinator of the program in 2004.

Marna Guerra Hallman (1993) is now manager of outpatient orthopedics at DCH with a staff of eight. She married in 2003 and enjoys the two Boston Terriers (Buster and Tee). "Life is good!!!" she says… She achieved her OCS certification in 2000. Since 1999 she has run two marathons! WOW!

Niva Nokes Harrison (1988) is a faculty member and at the PTA Program at Wallace Community College in Dothan, AL. Niva has also served as a Chapter Council Member for Alabama Chapter of APTA as the By-Laws Committee Chair.

Robert Murphy (1999) entered the Jesuits, a Catholic Religious Order, in 2003 and is currently studying to be a priest. As part of his training Robert was sent to San Salvador, El Salvador to study Spanish and Theology. While there, Robert worked as a PT in a nonprofit medical clinic. He will soon be returning to his studies at Saint Louis University.

Quinn Sirmon (2005) has partnered with one of his CI's Bryan Soulie to open his own private practice PT clinic "Hub City Physical Therapy" in Hattiesburg, MS. The clinic is doing very well and his family is great! Go Quinn!!!

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FALL 2007

Alexis Clarkson (2005) has taken a new job as a pediatric Physical Therapist at Tampa General in her home town of Tampa, FL. She had an article about her with one of her patients in the Tampa Newspaper in March!

Barry Dale PT, PhD, SCS, OCS, ATC, SCSC (1994) has taken a new faculty position at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, bringing he, Tracy, and Jackson closer to their hometown of Gadsden and Jackson's grandparents! Notice he also recently passed the Orthopedic Clinical Specialist exam.

Lucinda Davis (2005) has now taken a job at the DCH Spine Care Center in Tuscaloosa. She is preparing to start a doctoral program and is engaged to marry Justin in May 2008.

Jennifer Farris (2001) has been working as a PT and ATC in the Enterprise area since graduation and bought a house four years ago. She is now starting a stint as a traveling PT starting in Ocala, FL.

Mai Fee-Vazquez (1997) Mai is practicing part-time at an outpatient clinic in Hillsboro, Oregon (a suburb of Portland, OR). She is working on her transitional DPT at Pacific University and hopes to complete an ortho-manual therapy mentorship at Kaiser Hayward's program.

Eric Garrard (1995) has been in Richmond, VA, but has relocated and was recently named Vice President of Outreach and Sub-Acute Services at Hutcheson Medical Center in Oglethorpe, GA.

Mason Reid (2003) practices in inpatient rehab at Northport Medical Center. She has completed her NDTA training and is now the Regional Chair for the NeuroDevelopmental Treatment Association.

Jaime Rhodes Loeffel (2000) and her husband live in Kennesaw, GA. She works Saturdays at a nursing home but mostly devotes her days to 2 year old son Liam. They are expecting their second child in January.

Justin Rich (2004) has been manager of five outpatient clinics in the Atlanta area. In May, he opened his own clinic, "Accel Physical Therapy, Inc.", in Villa Rica, GA (25 mi west of Atlanta) and has had a great response with weekly visits far exceeding his current goals.  Son, Christian, just started kindergarten, and daughter, Sunny, has started pre-K.

Karl von Tiesenhausen (1999) lives in San Francisco and works in the Center for Outpatient Physical Therapy at St. Mary's Medical Center.

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SPRING 2008

Here is the latest information Dr. Fell has gathered on alumni. We want to include you in the next issue!

Sandra Pendergrass Arnold (1978) – the first USA PT Class!) recently returned to part-time work as a PT after 27 years of not practicing PT while she home-schooled her four children. The two oldest, Sara (27), and Ruth (25) have both graduated college and are married. Noah (19) is a sophomore in college, and Peter (18) will graduate high school within the next year. She enjoys life in Geneva, AL (for 25 years now) with her husband David.

Jack Bentley (2000) works for Gentiva Home Health in Mobile, AL. Five of their eight children are still at home, the oldest three are married and moved away. Jack and Jane are proud grandparents of Sarah Patience with two additional grandchildren on the way!

Laura Estes (2002) works in an orthopedic outpatient clinic in Southern Illinois. When Tonielli Jade "Elli" Estes was born 1/6/06 she gave up managing an outpatient aquatic center and sometimes does wounds and neuro occasionally at a local hospital. Regarding Elli, who will be 2 years old in January, she says, " Most of my free time goes to my daughter. With the career choice I have made, I am able to do that. I thank all of the staff at the PT department at USA for affording me the opportunity to do what I love."

Buddy McCormick (1995) is currently the ALAPTA Representative-at-Large and liaison to the PR Committee and web manager. He is also a nominee for the Alabama licensure board. He recently completed the requirements as a Certified Functional Capacity Evaluator and Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist through the Back School of Atlanta and also completed the long term manual therapy series with Andy Gustafson which is required prior to formal entrance into the Institute of Rehabilitation and Training Orthopedic Manual Therapy Fellowship.

Michelle Nesin, PT, OCS (1989) currently runs a practice with her sister and mother with locations in Huntsville, AL and Madison, AL,employing 17 PT's/PTA's. She has completed two fellowships, one in PNF in Vallejo, CA and another in Orthopedic Manual Therapy with the Institute of Physical Arts, (IPA) in Steamboat Springs, CO. She is an instructor for IPA since 1992. Michelle was married in May 2004 and gave birth to her son, Christopher John Hunt, September 13, 2007 at 8 lb 12 oz. The family resides on a farm in southern Tennessee with two dogs and a number of horses.

Francis Ng (1992) Congratulations to Francis and Terri upon the birth of their son Jonathan "Levi" in Hong Kong, 11/1/07. More details at http://thefamilyng.blogspot.com/

Diane Pitts (1986) works part-time at Providence Hospital and is a part-time adjunct instructor in the PT program. Her oldest of three sons is now a freshman at USA studying engineering.

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FALL 2008

Phillip Carroll (1993) moved back to Ruston, LA in 1995 and has worked in home health since then. He now owns his own home health company and enjoys a busy and productive practice.

Julie Brown (2008) and Jonathan Weathers (2008) were married July 12th and now reside in North Georgia.

Lauren Brown Connolly (2005) married husband Sean in Nov 2006. They had been living here on the Gulf Coast, but recently moved to Philadelphia.

Tony Kennon (1987) was recently elected the Mayor of Orange Beach, AL.

Katie Moore (2007) and husband Scott had their second child Jude Scott Moore on May 8th. At 8 lb 9 oz and 21.75 inches, Katie says "He's great!"

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SPRING 2009

JoEtta Fauver Barefoot (1992) says she is “truly blessed” with her family and in her full time position at Alacare Home Health and Hospice. JoEtta has been married to Blair Barefoot for nearly six years and they have a 3-year-old son Jaden (August 2005) and daughter Britton just born in August 2008.

Patrick Benefield (2005) now lives in Denver, CO, working for the VA hospital as an outpatient therapist, “literally treating everything” from individuals with tumor, bad backs, amputation, to TBI and Stroke. He recently bought a 120 year old Victorian home in downtown that he is starting to restore.

Andrew Bennett (1999) and Heather Giroir Bennett (1999) just opened a 12th clinic in Texas www.texpts.com They include fully integrating residency training, fellowships, and now even internship at the student level. Andrew has his Orthopedic Clinical Specialist certifcation and completed a fellowship. Their family includes Joshua (7), Anna (4), David (15mos)...with #4 on the way in May. Andrew says “Heather is a super mom”.

Donovan Brooks (1997) and Shannon Halverson Brooks (1996) say “12 years of marriage have flown by.” Donovan works for Mid-South Home Health and Shannon still works in the school system in Mobile. They have three children: Kyla (10) in competitive dance, Trevin (9) basketball is his thing, and Brayden (6) who “is a blast as he is the family clown”. They have a great family portrait on their Facebook page.

Lea Hurlburt Burnaman (2001) lives in Alexandria, LA with husband Dustin (married Oct 2007). Dr Fell found her on Facebook. She works in inpatient rehab center and also does some home health. They have their basset hound, Dexter, and she spends a lot of her free time keeping in shape by running and circuit training, reading and painting.

Angela Gattis Fowler (2005) married Evan Fowler, former tennis player at USA, in June 2008. She practices just north of Atlanta. She is preparing to open her own practice in Alpharetta. To the faculty she said “Thanks for everything.”

Mark Gagnon (2005) married his college sweetheart in January 2009. He has worked in New Iberia, LA. since graduation in an inpatient rehab unit floating to acute and outpatient as needed at a small hospital.

Natasha Howell (2001) lives in Lucedale, MS and works in home health as one of 4 area rehab leaders for the company. She stays busy with work , church and her 3 kids.... Serena(7), Trent(5) and Presley (2).

Amberly Cooper Mason (2004) opened a private practice clinic in Spanish Fort in May 2008 and it is going great. Plus, she has a 2 year old. She says “we stay pretty busy.” She is also on Facebook.

Kristy Scheblein McGehee (2000) is married with a 3 1/2 year old boy named Matthew. She works at Rehab Associates in Wetumpka, AL doing orthopedics and specializing in women's health.

Heather Hillhouse Melancon (2005) married and now is expecting their first child, a daughter, on May 7, 2009! She works at an outpatient clinic in Bogalusa, LA , Therapeutic Concepts. “Small clinic but I love it!”

Robert Murphy (1999) graduated from the St Louis University Seminary and is now teaching Theology and Spanish at the Jesuit High School in Dallas, TX. He also works on the athletic training staff and coaching soccer. “So I am busy but well and getting to mix all my interests.”

Jennifer Prevost Peyerk (1999) recently connected with a few of her PT classmates through Facebook. She is married with three kids; Jenevieve 8, Cole 5, and Paisley 1, and works for a local non-profit home care agency and does contract work as well.

Lisi Fox Phillips (1999) lives in Fort Payne now, but will be moving to Chattanooga, TN. They have 2 little girls: Trinity age 4 and Acadia age2.

Jill Renegar Porter (2000) lives in Nashville with her husband and 2 girls, ages 3 and 14 months. She has enjoyed home health PT for about 7 years and works for Vanderbilt Home Care.

Monica Thompson Shea (1999) works as a school PT in Jacksonville, NC. She earned her DPT from Boston University in 2005. She and her husband (a Marine) have three children: Morgan (6), Brennan (3), and Connor (1). See come cute Halloween pictures of the kids on her Facebook page.

Brian Strawbridge (2005) and his wife Mary will be equipping a double nursery. They found out they will have IDENTICAL TWIN GIRLS with due date of June 19th.

David Sweatt (2000) & William Hale (2000) opened Peak Performance Physical Therapy in October 2005. Peak Performance is an outpatient clinic located in Florence, AL.

Katy Shrauner Thompson (1998) and her husband have lived in Phoenix for about 6 years (in chicago for 4 years before that). She took 2 years off when she had the twins!! Having worked as a PT for over 10 years, she has worked now for 2 years in an Emergency Department - she really likes it.

Jessica Tranchina (1999) reconnected with Dr Fell through the Facebook alumni group. After initially practicing in the SE she has worked in San Diego, San Fran, Austin, Tulsa, Seattle and now in Hawaii. In Austin, she worked on her doctorate from BU and met my hubby. She says she had an “adventurous wedding” in Tahoe and honeymoon in Costa Rica. Jessica says “I just love the versatility of the field of PT and the ability it gives one to move about the country and even the world!!”

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Jon Baird (2003) and wife expecting their second child in Oct 2009. He is Manager of Select PT in Castle Rock and Parker, CO.

Andrew Bennett (1999) is part of a PT practice (TexPTS) that will be receiving the APTA PPS 'best practice award' at the upcoming PPS conference.  Way to go Andrew!!

Michael Beuoy (2000) works in Huntsville for Encore Rehabilitation.  He say “Life is good. Happily married with 2 kids, so we stay busy.”

R. Barry Dale, PT, PhD (1994) and Tracy had their second child, daughter Hannah in March 2009.  Big brother Jackson started off a little jealous, but really loves his sister.

Emily Fedor-Flynn (2000) lives in North Carolina working part time in an ortho. outpatient clinic. She reports “we have two children who keep us ‘entertained’ and life is good!”

Charles Hollier (1993) and his wife Phyllis are owners of a PT-owned clinic, Hollier Physical Therapy, in Gonzales Louisiana.  He built his own stripmall which houses the clinic in one of the units.

Gena Scott March (1993) lives in Baton Rouge with husband Ricky.  They have a son Riggs (13) and daughter Robbye (11).  Gena teaches 3rd grade English & cursive handwriting and 2nd grade English half day at the kids' private school and loves it!  She does maintain her PT and Massage licenses.

Darius McAfee (2000) worked in Decatur and Huntsville for seven years in outpatient clinics, but now lives in Marietta, and I work in an outpatient clinic in Cartersville, Ga. He is very active in his local church, singing in the choir and leading a small group in the high school ministry.

Peter C. Panus, PhD PT (1994) is a faculty member at East Tennessee State University and had his book “Pharmacology for the Physical Therapist” published in 2009 by McGraw Hill.

Kaidong Tang (2007) and his wife Fawen are now in Cincinnati and are enjoying their 2 year old daughter, born on his graduation day, 5/5/07.

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Here is the latest information Dr. Fell has gathered on alumni. We want to include you in the next issue!

Emily Brigance Black (1998) and husband Trae Black of 11 years live in Madison, Alabama where she works in the school system of Huntsville City. They have two girls, 8 year old Isabelle and 6 year old Olivia.

Eric Dekle (1994) was appointed to the Alabama Board of Physical Therapy in October 2009 for a five-year term. He lives in Mobile AL and works with Mid South Home Health.  Congratulations Eric!  Thanks for your service!

Julie Fleisher Devlin (1999) and husband Terry live in Henderson, NV with 9 y.o. daughter Maggie. She works in outpatient orthopedics, specializing in neck and back pain with her MDT (McKenzie) training.

Rachel Fountain Green (2008) is now married and lives in Florida.  She just sponsored her second annual Health Walk celebrating National PT Month. 

Elizabeth Toler Kavanagh (1990) is married to 1989 University alum John Kavanagh and have 2 kids, Lauren Tice 16 and Chris Tice 18. Living in Mobile, she has worked for the last 11 years as a Regional Manager for a contract rehab company providing PT/OT/SLP in long term care settings throughout the Southeast.

Amy Dunbar Pause (1997) is enjoying her Nashville experience including a focus on vestibular rehab. She has completed the Advanced Vestibular Competency Course at Duke University, has co-instructed a vestibular course in Chicago and occasionally teach at area PT schools.

Althea A. Penn (1980) moved to the Atlanta area 14 years ago and has practiced with her NDT certification in Adult Hemiplegia in Gwinnett Hospital System.  She loves her inpatient neurorehab focus and recently started her own company for part-time neurorehab home health visits.
Ramona Vowels Reich (1996) continues to enjoy physical therapy with certification in hand therapy.

John Scarbrough (1995) maintains dual licensure as a PT and an RN.  He is presently on nursing faculty at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. He has earned a Master’s in Nursing Education from the University of Hawaii and is now half-way through a PhD program. In a recent note, he stated how much he enjoyed the Pathophysiology course, and now he is teaching Pathophys.

Jonathan Shaw (2007) is practicing PT in Georgia and has recently passed the Orthopedic Clinical Specialist examination!  Congrats Jonathan!  Who is next?

Mark Staples (1985) is owner and PT of an active Private Practice in both Alexander City and Dadeville, Alabama.

Austin Trippe (2007) and his wife had their 3rd baby (a girl named Selah Marie) in July 2009. Austin was named Director of Rehab for Encore Rehab at Evergreen Medical Center in February of 2008.  They live in Brewton.

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