University of Texas at El Paso
PhD in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
   
Program News Minimize    

IHS PhD Student
Presents at SOPHE
Mid-Year Meeting

Holly Dempsey, right, and one
of her advisors, Dr. Sharon Thompson
See article below.
   
Welcome to the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Website Minimize    

The College of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing offer students the opportunity to attain their fullest academic potential: a PhD in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences.

This new doctoral program embraces an interdisciplinary model of teaching and learning that seeks holistic perspectives on health-related issues, and is designed to respond to the growing national shortage of appropriately-trained professionals in health-related fields.

Our mission is to train talented individuals to assume leadership roles in health-related research, particularly regarding health concerns that disproportionately affect our border community. We also strive to meet UTEP’s twin ideals of Excellence and Access. The Faculty and Staff of the IHS Ph.D. program are dedicated to helping students succeed in the program and to become the future health research leaders.

I welcome you to the program’s website and encourage you to contact us for more information on the program. We also encourage you to contact us if you would like to visit the College, tour the labs and campus, meet with an advisor, or sit in on a class.



Tom Olson, PhD, APRN, BC, Director
Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program
1101 No. Campbell, Room 407
915-747-7246
tolson@utep.edu

   
Program News Minimize    

Holly Dempsey, right, and one of her advisors, Dr. Sharon Thompson, participated in the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Midyear Scientific Conference held in Chicago, in May, 2008. Holly made a podium presentation on her paper, “Correlations between smoking and binge drinking: enhancing an existing theory-based intervention.” As first author, Holly co-authored the paper/presentation with her advisors, Drs. Sharon Thompson and Joe Tomaka. At the conclusion of her session’s presentations, she also participated in a panel discussion with her fellow presenters to an enthusiastic audience.

 

 

At the same conference, she also conducted a poster presentation, “Perceptions of cervical cancer and screening among low income Hispanic women on the U.S.-Mexico border.” She was third author along with Dr. Thompson, and master’s student, S. Ross and undergraduate student E. Anguiano. She was able to visit with over 35 people during the two-hour poster session and learned many of them were already familiar with and very interested in UTEP’s research. She was also successful in recruiting a student into the IHS doctoral program.

About her experience Holly said, “As a neophyte researcher (both my academic and work experiences prior to UTEP were clinical) I was thrilled to be exposed to such a wide variety of research endeavors and perspectives within the Health Education field. I made a lot of good contacts, heard a lot of good information and ideas, and gained some great experience. It was clear to me that UTEP is ‘leading the pack’ in terms of interdisciplinary communication, health equity advocacy, and implementation of effective and culturally responsive models of health sciences research.”