Home Care In Joseph, UT

Dr. Christopher Joseph had the rare opportunity to complete medical school and also work at SpaceX, the private space exploration company founded by the billionaire Elon Musk. That experience influenced his career choice in emergency medicine and innovation research, two passions he hopes to combine.

What this award means: After my third year of medical school, I took a research year working for a medical startup. Spending that year away made me work particularly hard to be prepared for my fourth-year emergency medicine (EM) rotations. Receiving this award not only recognizes my efforts to learn and develop within emergency medicine, it also represents the incredible mentorship I have received from residents and faculty.

Mentor comment: Christopher has already made significant contributions to scientific literature with dozens of publications and research presentations on esophageal cooling and atrial fibrillation. He has also volunteered with the Communities Foundation of Texas, coordinated a vaccine drive, and acted as a peer mentor. Chris displays excellent early-clinician skills, and we expect him to have a bright future in emergency medicine. – Mary McHugh, M.D., Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Background and family: Despite having parents from Malaysia and Peru, I was born in New Zealand. I immigrated to the United States with my parents and older brother as a child and grew up in the South. I now live in Dallas along with my girlfriend, Julie, and our dog, Maya.

What led to your career path: I’ve known since high school that I would pursue a career in medicine. Although I always had an interest in innovation, I never thought it would play a role in my future career. However, in college I had the opportunity to work at Blockit, a medical software startup, where I discovered my desire to work at the crossroads of health care and technology. This experience and my time working at SpaceX led me to a career in emergency medicine and innovation research.

College: I went to UT Dallas and majored in biology. As part of the UT-PACT combined B.A./M.D. program, I was accepted to medical school when I was 17. While in college, I was a resident adviser in the dorms and was the co-president of my UT-PACT class.

UTSW activities: I served with the Academic Colleges as a peer mentor and often volunteered for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. I also took a research year working at Attune Medical with Erik Kulstad, M.D., Professor of Emergency Medicine at UTSW and an emergency medicine physician at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Surprising fact: During medical school, I worked at SpaceX on research and planning for spaceflight missions and deployment of Starlink internet into health care settings.

Ultimate career goal: My ultimate goal would be to apply the skills I’ve learned in medical innovation to issues faced by underprivileged and underinsured patients. There is a lot of money and interest in health care technology currently, but not enough targeting those most in need of innovation. Emergency medicine sits at the forefront of this issue by acting as the safety net for patients who desperately need preventive care. I hope to help fill this gap throughout my career.

Future plans: I matched at UT Southwestern for my emergency medicine residency. In the future, I hope to practice as an academic emergency medicine physician with a focus on innovation both within my academic institution and with startups.

About the award: The award is given annually to a senior medical student for demonstrating excellence and commitment to emergency medicine.

St. Joseph’s University finalized a merger agreement Friday with the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, making the college a Lancaster County-location of the Philadelphia-based university.

The university first announced plans to merge with the college in January 2023, following its acquisition of the former University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in June 2022. Both schools were added to expand St. Joseph’s health science programming and the mergers is expected to increase enrollment from 6,464 to 8,676 students, according to spokesperson Kevin Gfeller.

Gfeller said St. Joseph’s is not publicly disclosing costs of the merger.

St. Joseph’s is a private four-year Jesuit Catholic university. Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences was a nonprofit college founded as part of the Lancaster General Health system.

LNP | LancasterOnline talked with St. Joseph’s University President Cheryl McConnel about the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences acquisition. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Local News

It’s been a long-term strategic initiative for us to completely round out our educational offerings. Excellent, comprehensive universities really make sure that they’re offering everything that students in (the) region needs ….

Pennsylvania College was a natural for us. Quite frankly, we had our choice of educational partners in the nursing area, and we chose to negotiate exclusively with Pennsylvania College when the situation presented itself. Again, because of its quality.

We do see an increasing need and we see it across the board in all health-related areas, including nursing but also the nursing-related programs … are really, really in high need. In fact, when I talk with CEOs of health systems here in Philadelphia, that’s the programs that they’re really crying out for ….

In addition to the merger agreement, there are long-term affiliation agreements. One of those is with Lancaster General Health, which assures both the Employee Reimbursement of Lancaster General Health and then also assures that St. Joseph’s University is serving the needs of the health system ….

Another thing that ensures a tight relationship and a tight communication is in the merger agreement, we have three representatives from the Lancaster region that come on to St. Joseph’s University’s Board of Trustees ….

John Herman, CEO of Lancaster General Health. Pedro Rivera, who’s president of Thaddeus Stevens (College of Technology) and Michael Wege. He’s a member of Penn Medicine board, as well as a former executive at the Hershey’s Corporation.

We've been in contact with … the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, the Lancaster tourism area and our business school is already working on different programs to be offered out there in either a hybrid fashion or on-location. So, we'll be beginning conversations with the Lancaster community about what other programs are needed and we're happy to serve those needs.

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When not treating children, Professor of Surgery Joseph T. Murphy, M.D., can usually be found teaching, whether in an operating room showing fellows how to remove a cancerous adrenal tumor from a toddler or at a resident conference reviewing the basics of pathologic intestinal anatomy.

As a general surgeon at UT Southwestern and also a pediatric surgeon at Children’s Health, Dr. Murphy is as dedicated to preparing the next generation of physicians as he is to caring for patients.

The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation recently recognized his commitment with the Piper Professor Award. This elite honor recognizes outstanding college professors in Texas. Dr. Murphy is the 18th current or former UTSW faculty member to receive the award since its establishment in 1958. His selection marks the second year in a row that a UTSW surgeon has been named a Piper Professor, following Brett Arnoldo, M.D., Professor of Surgery, in 2022.

Dr. Murphy expressed his gratitude for the prize, adding that it is an honor to receive such recognition simply for doing his job and carrying on a tradition of teaching he observed as a medical student.

“During my education, I received great mentoring, and a lot of people took the time to teach me,” he said. “I feel like it would be almost unethical to not help those who came after me.”

Over his 33-year career, Dr. Murphy has proved to be a tireless pediatric surgeon and educator, said Diana Diesen, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Program Director for the Division of Pediatric Surgery at UT Southwestern. Dr. Diesen is also on the pediatric general surgery faculty at Children’s Health in Dallas and Plano.

“As an academic physician, he is an excellent example of a triple threat, excelling in clinical care, education, and clinical research,” Dr. Diesen said. “He is one of the busiest surgeons in our practice, yet always finds the time to teach. Dr. Murphy has taught an entire generation of students, residents, and fellows about how to perform clinical research in pediatric surgery.”

Dr. Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the State University of New York in Buffalo and a Master of Science in biology at UT Dallas. He then earned a medical degree from UT Southwestern, where he also completed a general surgery residency and CORE laboratory research fellowship before joining the Department of Surgery faculty in 1996.

Over 12 years as a board-certified general surgeon, he developed extensive clinical experience in the management of severe traumatic injury. But he was always drawn to pediatrics, and in 2007 completed a pediatric surgery fellowship at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

The fast pace of pediatric surgery and the opportunity to care for a wide range of patients attracted him to the specialty. “I treat everyone – from the smallest premature baby to the largest 18-year-old,” Dr. Murphy said.

As rewarding as pediatric surgery is, it comes with many challenges. It is an emotionally charged time for families, and they are counting on a stranger to do what is right for their child, Dr. Murphy said.

“I often walk into a room of anxious family members, and within minutes they’re handing over their child to me to care for,” he said. “I see it daily, and it amazes me every time.”

Despite having a busy practice, Dr. Murphy is always available for teaching. He is actively involved in educational programs at UT Southwestern and Children’s Health, including the Academic Colleges at UT Southwestern and general surgery resident training programs. He has served on the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Clinical Competency Committee since 2014 and works on trainee mentoring committees every year. Dr. Murphy has also been the general surgery residency site director for Children’s Medical Center Dallas, leading resident orientation and teaching efforts.

Residents have given him outstanding teaching awards several times, said Dr. Diesen, who met Dr. Murphy when she was a pediatric surgery fellow, and is now a clinical partner.

“Dr. Murphy is one of the busiest clinical surgeons in our Division with a clinical niche in pediatric surgical oncology, so the fellows spend a great deal of time with him learning how to resect complex tumors in children,” she said. “You can regularly find him in OR 8 at Children’s leaning over an open abdomen with multiple trainees gathered around.”

He is always ready to respond when needed, Dr. Diesen said.

“Whether I was calling from the OR, the trauma bay, or the side of the road, Dr. Murphy would always answer the call,” she said. “I have said it before, and I will say it again – I am a better surgeon when he is in town.”

Dr. Murphy said it is very satisfying to pass on what he has learned to the next generation of surgeons.

“When an ex-fellow calls or texts me to say that when he or she faced a problem and knew how to handle it because of what was learned from me, that’s very rewarding,” he said.

Ohio University’s Speech and Debate Team capped its championship season with a national title in oratory competition.

In the 2022-2023 forensics season (September-April), the OHIO team:

Oratory champion

Senior Mackenzie Joseph, a communication studies major in the Scripps College of Communication(opens in a new window), won the national oratory championship on April 23, in Austin, Texas, at a competition sponsored by the Interstate Oratorical Association, the nation's oldest competitive collegiate speaking association.

Participants in this contest are top state finalists. Ohio University’s Susan Adair won this championship in 1969, when the Interstate Oratorical competition had divisions for men and women.

Joseph’s championship speech — which she wrote — focused on protecting children from exploitive language. During the 2022-2023 season, she also won first place awards at tournaments in Alabama, Michigan and Ohio including a state championship in Persuasive Speaking in February.

National reputation

On March 15-18, Ohio University’s team competed at the Pi Kappa Delta (PKD) Nationals at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Joseph won second place in Persuasive Speaking at the competition.

In addition, two OHIO students from Parkersburg, West Virginia,(opens in a new window) won PKD championships. Emily “Em” Marlow won first place in the Interviewing category and Soren Starkey won first place in Prose Interpretation and first place in Duo Interpretation with teammate Jalen Tolbert, who is from Dayton.

In debate, junior Anthony Banks advanced to octo-finals at PKD Nationals. Starkey and Joseph advanced to semi-finals in Public Forum. Banks, Starkey and Joseph ranked in the top ten among debate speakers.

Bench of talent

Tolbert, a sophomore, won a state championship in Duo Interpretation with teammate Starkey. Tolbert and underclassmen Abreanna Blose, Emily Osborne, and Bre Reidl won first place awards in multiple speech categories at contests in Illinois, Ohio and Oklahoma.

Ohio University’s speech and debate program draws talent from strong high school teams throughout the region. Blose (opens in a new window)and Reidl, for example graduated from Perry High School in Massillon,Ohio, and participated in the debate program.

Start-to-finish success

At one of the first college tournaments of the season — sponsored by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia — OHIO’s Starkey won first place in Dramatic Interpretation.

Two weeks later at the University of Alabama, Starkey took first in Prose Interpretation and would win more top awards in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Ohio University hosted a major tournament Jan. 27-28, showcasing the Athens campus. Varsity speakers do not compete in home tournaments; freshman Emily Osborne won a first place (novice) and also placed among top finishers at other competitions.

Varsity competitors from OHIO are familiar figures on the forensics circuit. Senior Tori Smith won first place in two categories at the Marshall University tournament Oct. 28-29 and another first place in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on Feb. 4.

In March, senior Adam Cahoon won two firsts and a third at a Chicago-based tournament. Senior teammate Luke May placed among top finishers in multiple competitions throughout the season.

Seniors Taylor Mondragon and Miranda Truslow won first in Duo Interpretation at Eastern Michigan University on Feb. 5. At month later, Mondragon and Starkey took first in that category at the Illinois State University tournament. Truslow is state champion in Dramatic Interpretation and also won that category in a mid-December tournament in Oklahoma.

In sum, as they say in speech, Ohio University’s 2022-2023 season was dramatic. OHIO's success resulted from preparation, discipline and the willingness to traverse the country to compete against the best.

Jennifer Talbert, School of Communication Studies, is the John A. Cassese Director of Forensics at Ohio University.

There’s no other place Terry Joseph would rather be than where he was Saturday morning.

Joseph, who serves as defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach for the University of Texas, stood in one end zone of the Caesars Superdome, just a few miles across the river from where he was raised.

One of his fondest football memories came in this very building 36 years ago when he helped Archbishop Shaw defeat Covington for a state championship. Now he’ll add another memory Monday night when Texas (12-1) plays Washington (13-0) in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

“This is a dream come true,” Joseph said. “To play and win a state championship at Shaw in 1987 and now to come back and play a game of this magnitude and to be on the run we’re on, it’s exciting. When you’re coaching, that’s what you dream about.”

But when you have the last name Joseph, coaching really isn’t just a dream: It’s a way of life.

The profession runs deep in the Joseph veins.

Terry’s cousin Vance Joseph is the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. His cousin Mickey was just named head coach at Grambling. Sammy Joseph, who is Vance and Mickey’s brother, is strength and conditioning coach at UL-Monroe. And Terry’s brother Derrick trains athletes in New Orleans.

The Joseph family is to coaching what the Manning family — including Texas Longhorns freshman Arch Manning — is to quarterbacks.

“When you think of high school football in New Orleans, especially Westbank football, the first name that comes to mind is the Josephs,” legendary Shaw coach Hank Tierney told me in 2022.

For Terry Joseph, though, it wasn’t just high school football. It was baseball, too.

Joseph, unlike the rest of his family members, didn’t play football in college. He was a standout baseball player at Northwestern State. He was named Southland Conference Player of the Year in 1995 and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball draft. He spent four seasons in the minor leagues with the Cubs and the San Diego Padres organizations.

There was just one small problem.

“I couldn’t hit the slider anymore," Joseph said. "So I needed to find a real job."

Tierney, his high school coach, called him about an opportunity to come home and help coach football and baseball and teach at Shaw.

Joseph accepted the offer, but he drifted more toward the football side. Wise choice. His career took off.

He landed his first college job as a graduate assistant at LSU, where he stayed for one season. The Tigers made it to the Sugar Bowl that year, beating Notre Dame. From there, he’s had coaching stops at Louisiana Tech, Tennessee, Nebraska, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Notre Dame and now Texas.

Not bad for a baseball guy, right?

“It’s surreal,” Joseph said. “But I think it’s a message to anybody that if you put your mind to it, you can get it accomplished, A lot of people would have took it as a setback or not good to have a resume’ that says you never played college football. But Bill Belichick never played. It’s the same thing, so I feel good about it.”

Joseph’s job Monday night will be to keep Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback Michael Penix and the Huskies out of the very end zone he was standing in fielding questions for Saturday’s media day. It’s a job he feels his secondary is ready for.

“Ric Flair said, ‘To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man,’ ” Joseph said. “That’s what we’ve got in front of us. An opportunity to play a quality team with a world-class quarterback. We’ve got to be up to the challenge. It will be a great measuring stick because almost 365 days ago, we played them. So how far have we come? It will be exciting to evaluate ourselves after this game.”

Washington beat Texas 27-20 last season in the Alamo Bowl. The stakes are much higher this time around as the winner advances to the championship game to face the winner of Monday’s Rose Bowl semifinal game between Michigan and Alabama.

Joseph has fulfilled ticket requests from about 20 family members, including his folks from Harvey and his wife’s side of the family from Destrehan.

“Hopefully we’ll have more than that in Houston next week,” Joseph said, referring to the site of the national championship game.

Win or lose, there will be group text messages with his coaching relatives, just like always.

There is also that one message that Joseph has for anyone willing to listen.

“Bet on yourself,” Joseph said. “At the end of the day, you don’t want to have any regrets. You have to take chances. You can’t always play it safe. To win big, you have to bet big and you have to always bet on yourself. If you can do that, you can live with the results.”