Sept. 11, 2020

This is part of a New Faculty Spotlight series in which we introduce all new faculty members for the 2020-2021 academic year. See the full list of new faculty. 

What is your title with Health Professions?

Assistant Teaching Professor, Health Sciences

What classes are you teaching this semester?

4300, Health Care in the US and 3300 Introduction to Public Health, all online which has certainly proven to be a challenge since I have always taught face-to-face.

What do you love about teaching?

I love getting to know my students and assisting them to meet their goals and/or provide direction to determine what their goals might be. I have a very different type of healthcare background than most professors in Health Sciences having worked in many different clinical areas which allows me to offer “real world” experiences.

Tell us a bit about yourself! What’s your background?

Nursing, specifically ICU nursing, is where I started in healthcare working on heart and lung transplant programs, mentoring new graduates into the ICU etc. Additionally, I traveled nurse for several years before returning to the a stationary position in Denver, Co. where I met my husband. Since that time, I worked in many different areas of healthcare which included : the Cath lab, Recovery room, Palliative and End of life care, Case management, Rehabilitation, Research, and Pharmaceutical. I bring much of my knowledge from these positions into the classroom which makes, I think, the content in my classes easier to digest.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy being outdoors: running, hiking, biking, and walking. I also enjoy reading, cross stitch, cooking and hanging out with my children ( I have 3 children: a son and twin girls, one currently lives in Hungary) and my son’s puppy, Tobias, a mixed lab we rescued from Louisiana at the age of 3 months (we co-parented while I was in D.C. for the year). He is now a year old and has quite the personality and has become an integral part of the family.

What brought you to Mizzou?

Actually it was my husband that encouraged me to apply for a teaching position at Mizzou. I had reached a point in my career that I wanted to get out of healthcare but share the knowledge I had accumulated over the years. Teaching seemed a perfect fit and it certainly has been.

What are you most excited about in regards to the upcoming semester/working at Mizzou/your research?

I am excited to be back. I loved teaching before and being away for a year only reinforced that passion upon my return.