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New Program Director Announced!

It is with great pleasure that we announce the promotion of Lauren Dobbs, MMS, PA-C, as the new Department Chair and Program Director for the School of Health Professions’ Physician Assistant Studies. PA Dobbs has overLauren Dobbs Physician Assistant Pediatrics 14 years as a physician assistant. She joined HSC in 2007 and has been an integral part of the PA Program. During her time at HSC, she has served as an Associate Professor, Director of the Pediatric Literacy Program in the Department of Pediatrics and Women’s Health, and Interim Department Chair and Program Director for PA Studies.
Additionally, PA Dobbs has served in numerous leadership positions including Texas Academy of Physician Assistant (TAPA) President and Secretary and Treasurer for the American Academy of PAs (AAPA). She has been awarded the Department of PA Studies Outstanding Preceptor Award six times and has received the TAPA Legislative Advocacy Award. PA Dobbs’ commitment to serve others first and dedication to HSC’s students, faculty, and staff makes her a perfect fit for this position. I am looking forward to watching her grow our PA program and continuing to provide the best education to our students. Please join us in congratulating PA Dobbs on her promotion!

 

 

Congratulations to our graduating class of 2021!

(with a few faculty photobombing in the back row!)
Graduation

 

STAFF SPOTLIGHT!

Tiffany Gardner, BBA
Clinical Site Coordinator

Gardner, TiffanyI have been a part of the PA Program since July of 2019. I was born in Odessa, Texas and moved to Fort Worth after graduating from college. I received my Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Management from Baylor University.
As the Clinical Site Coordinator for the PA department. I recruit and retain clinical sites and preceptors for our students. The best part of my job is going on site visits and seeing first-hand what great providers our students are becoming and the confidence they have in themselves while taking care of their patients. This makes me proud knowing that our students will be ready to treat people once they graduate from the program!

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT!

Jennifer Crumm, MSM, PA-C, RD
We are spotlighting PA Crumm today. She has been part of our faculty in the UNTHSC PA program since 2020.
Hometown(s): Alvin, TX, and Brentwood, TN- I was born in Alvin (just outside Houston) but spent the majority of my childhood in Brentwood, TN (just south of Nashville), so I consider myself both a Texan and a Tennessean.

Current Role: I am an Assistant Professor in the UNTHSC PA Program. I am the course director of the Endocrinology and Urology/Nephrology courses. I also have the pleasure of lecturing in many other courses and facilitating activities within the program.Heads Up

What led you to your career path?
Health and medicine have always intrigued me. I find the inner workings of the human body fascinating. When I entered undergrad at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, I knew I wanted to pursue a science degree but, with so many options, I did not know what to choose! After taking several pre-requisite science courses, I fell in love with the nutritional sciences and earned my Bachelor degree in Nutrition. I didn’t stop there, though. I was fortunate enough to match with Lipscomb University’s Dietetic Internship and completed the one-year program, which culminated with my passing the registered dietitian certification exam. I wear my registered dietitian (RD) title with pride! However, during my nutrition education, I longed for more knowledge about the clinical pathophysiology of the conditions and diseases I had learned to treat through food. This is when I found the physician assistant career path, and felt these health care professionals aligned most with my purpose and passion of being a healer to those around me.
After graduating from Trevecca Nazarene University’s Physician Assistant Program, I made my way back to Texas and settled into a private practice endocrinology clinic. This complex specialty really tests your medical knowledge and I so enjoyed the patients I had the privilege of treating. When managing patients with chronic conditions, you see them so regularly that they become friends and it was a pleasure to see them. During my time in clinical practice, I had the opportunity to act as a preceptor to the students of the HSC PA Program, and this is where the love of teaching started. I found joy in explaining the complex conditions we treated and the rationales behind different treatment options. I was proud of my students when they completed their first differential diagnoses list and correctly identified which diagnostic tests to order or medications to prescribe. It was an invigorating feeling to be educating future clinicians!
When I decided to enter the medical field, I did so with the purpose and passion of helping and healing those around me- bettering my community one encounter at a time. As a preceptor, I began to realize the best way to help and heal those around me was to educate and guide the future generations of physician assistants, so they may go out into their communities across the country (and maybe even across the globe!) and help and heal others, using the knowledge I was able to give them. I am honored to be a part of PA education and a member of the amazing Physician Assistant Program at the UNT Health Science Center!

What do you love most about your work?
I love the people I work with- the students, staff, and faculty! Not just in the PA program, but across the university. Such an awesome part of teaching at a health science center is that you have opportunities to collaborate with other healthcare professionals, all with the same goal of educating the clinicians of tomorrow. Engaging with students across the different colleges, schools, and programs, shows the importance of each profession in the comprehensive care of our patients.

What advice do you have for PA Students?
Never stop learning! The field of medicine is ever changing and there are always opportunities to expand your knowledge base. And always be gracious, not only to other but to yourself, too! You may be surprised just how far a little act of kindness can take you.

This page was last modified on May 20, 2021