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Zach Steger and James McCorkle smile alongside each other in the PhysZOU clinic, McCorckle is holding a basketball

Oct. 6, 2020

Celebrity Therapist

James McCorkle has used a wheelchair for most of his six years of life, and, for much of that time, he has been a client at the School of Health Professions’ PhysZOU clinic. That’s where he met physical therapy student Mark Weleaga, who quickly realized that McCorkle needed to improve his wheelchair skills. “During my first session with James, we had to encourage him a lot to get him to do different wheelchair skills and play games,” Weleaga says. So, for help, he went straight to the top — Mizzou’s wheelchair basketball team. “I was hoping to make therapy fun.”…
Laura Schopp

Oct. 6, 2020

The Road to Recovery

In 2018, opioid use disorder killed 1,132 Missourians, a rate well above the national average. Communities statewide need access to providers who can help them deal with the problem. In response, health psychology chair Laura Schopp, MA ’91, PhD ’95, is using a new $1.2 million grant to expand an internship program that deals with the problem, particularly in underserved communities. Opioid use disorder occurs in about 29 percent of patients who have been prescribed drugs for short-term pain relief but find it difficult to use them as intended, Schopp says. “Health psychology comes to this arena with great skills…
A woman in sitting in a chair wearing a mask

Aug. 10, 2020

Masters Students Help Fill Critical Need for Case Investigators in Boone County

Missouri has entered its sixth month of navigating the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and for dozens of health departments across the state, CARES Act funding has been slow to arrive. That means crucial public-health positions like contact tracers and case investigators have been left unfilled. So, Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services has found one creative stop-gap – Masters in Public Health student volunteers.