Due to an increase in the need for allied health professionals, there is a growing interest to assess the allied health workforce and its employment needs. This is especially true in medically underserved rural areas where there is a critical shortage of allied health professionals. A survey was sent to allied health administrators across a variety of allied health disciplines working in Tennessee hospitals in order to gauge opinions on retention and recruitment strategies. Overall successful strategies for recruitment and retention of allied health professionals were reported as well as differences between urban and rural areas, differences of perceptions of strategy effectiveness among allied health disciplines, and key strategies for rural allied health recruitment. Little is known about organizational policies impacting recruitment and retention practices of allied health professionals in Tennessee hospitals. Understanding of this problem is vital to the prevention of a critical shortage of allied health professionals. Therefore, this study sought to compare rural and urban hospital in Tennessee with respect to recruitment and retention needs.

Although strategic planning has been used successfully in most major business institutions, higher education has been slow to adopt this management technique. Involvement in planning is a critical issue for allied health educational programs, such as physical therapy, which are relatively new to the academic environment. These programs face a continual need to update their curricula and clinical education based on rapid changes in the health care delivery system and the profession. The problem of this study was to determine the extent to which the strategic planning process is currently applied in institutions in the United States which offer accredited physical therapy educational programs. The population of this study was made up of the chief executive officers of the 115 public and independent institutions that offer physical therapy educational programs. Selected experts on strategic planning and chief executive officers were surveyed in two phases using a mailed questionnaire designed to measure the organization, characteristics, and impact of strategic planning in institutions that offer accredited physical therapy educational programs. Seventy-three percent of the chief executive officers responded, and 50.9 percent indicated their involvement with strategic planning by completing the questionnaire. The findings indicate that, although there is general agreement between the experts and the chief executive officers concerning the characteristics of strategic planning, differences exist. Differences were also identified between academic health centers and other types of institutions, between public and independent institutions, and between institutions by type of physical therapy degree offered. It was concluded that, in the opinion of the chief executive officers, strategic planning processes are being practiced in institutions that offer physical therapy programs, that this process is compatible with academic collegiality, that changes are made in policies and programs but not in the mission, that although faculty members including those from physical therapy are involved, the role and the involvement of these individuals is unclear, and that information-gathering and evaluation methods could be refined.

For many business segments, true “out of the box” innovation occurs in entrepreneurial companies where the founders aren’t hindered with the research paradigms established by mainstream businesses. The founders of these companies, many times technologists and scientists, see the application of the technology long before potential customers develop an understanding of the capabilities that the new technology can bring to the marketplace. Many times these “new technology ideas” have been developed though modifying an existing dominant design (product or service) to meet an unforeseen market need or through the development of a new design that may become the new industry standard. The competitors of tomorrow may reside in radically different markets yet have the insight to envision the application or modification of an existing technology to a market segment that they are currently not involved in. Teaching engineering technology students techniques and visioning tactics related to the innovation process has been difficult. Several of the authors have experienced, both in the classroom and in industrial settings, that many engineering and engineering technology students see innovation as the application of engineering principals resulting in small incremental changes in a process. Although these changes may result in a more efficient process through increased productivity, reduced waste, faster cycle times, etcetera; continuous improvement projects many times do not generate the dramatic market changes seen with a new dominant design. In fact in many established industries, disruptive innovation is discouraged in favor of continuous innovation because of the uncertainty of the risk/reward quotient and the impact that failed experimentation (increased research and development costs) can have on Wall Street’s perception of a company. Our university recently merged the colleges of Business and Technology and Applied Sciences resulting in a cross-pollinated faculty and the establishment of courses in the graduate and undergraduate curriculum where business and engineering technology student’s work together on class projects, many of which involve an innovation component. It is interesting that many of the faculty who incorporate a discussion or exercise related to the innovation process in their classroom have had extensive experience in an industrial setting prior to joining the university faculty. Industry seasoned faculty bring their “real-world” experience to the classroom and challenge students to move beyond continuous improvement projects. In several cases, ideas generated in the classroom or through collaborative efforts between the business and technology faculty have resulted in prototypes being built in the laboratory for further testing of the prospective innovation. The presence of a technology-centered business incubator located within walking distance from campus provides students the opportunity to observe several high technology businesses that have developed new technology niches in established market segments. These businesses provide consulting opportunities for cross-disciplinary graduate student teams to observe the challenges of introducing a new technology to address previously met market needs through introduction of a superior product. The business incubator is further linked to a sister technology-centered business incubator in Europe providing students (graduate and undergraduate) the opportunity to evaluate if a new technology should be launched initially in the United States or Europe. The creation of these learning opportunities mimic the industrial setting where graduates will be required to operate in cross-disciplinary teams that may address global manufacturing and marketing decisions. This paper discusses the pedagogical approaches several faculty members have developed to introduce and cultivate a creative innovation process to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in technology engineering and business marketing and management classes. These approaches include identifying unmet market niche opportunities, identifying technologies utilized in alternative markets that could be utilized for different market segments, classroom exercises to compel students to search existing patent literature, ideation and brainstorming exercises and researching business entities to identify their technology strategy and implementation plans.

University managed technology-based business incubators evolved at major research institutions as a mechanism for university professors to pursue commercial applications of their research without having to resign their university positions. These incubators assisted the universities in retention of valuable faculty and also provided for the development of university intellectual property (IP) to a level where commercialization was probable. In addition to faculty retention and the potential for revenue from commercialization of IP, these incubators further developed the universities’ reputations in producing cutting edge research. The physical proximity of the incubators to the universities is crucial because this allows easy access to university intellectual capital, equipment and skilled technical labor that enable fledgling businesses to survive and flourish. Many regional universities are adding an emphasis on research and community economic development to their primary mission of teaching. As a result they are establishing business incubators. The goals for these incubators include creation of an environment and culture for the establishment of student driven companies, improvement of commercialization of university intellectual property, enhancement of the ability to attract technology-based businesses and provision of a living laboratory for student to work within the entrepreneurial environment. Just as is the case for the traditional research universities, business incubators at regional universities provide the supporting infrastructure that permits the university faculty to take advantage of SBIR and STTR programs to launch businesses and move university IP toward commercialization. In addition, the formation of a university-managed business incubator provides an excellent environment for non-university established technology businesses to benefit from the advantages of university faculty, personnel, students and graduates in both consulting and employee positions. Establishing a university managed technology-based business incubator at a regional university requires a strategic vision that integrates the universities core competencies, academic and research missions, senior administration concerns, capital and building campaigns and economic development concerns of the surrounding communities. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for building the strategic vision, developing the necessary infrastructure and mitigating risks when establishing the incubator. In addition, a discussion of lessons learned through the establishment of our university managed technology-based incubator at ETSU is presented through a mini-case study.

Abstract available in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Excerpt: Faculty from East Tennessee State University’s Allied Health Science programs believes Interprofessional education is important prior to graduation.

Abstract available through http://www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.1037.5.

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD), which compromises bone tissue increasing fragility and susceptibility to fracture. It affects nearly 50% of women and 20% of men over the age of 50, and fractures resulting from osteoporosis cause significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, patients with or at risk for osteoporosis should be identified before rather than after a fracture occurs. The gold standard in diagnosing patients with osteoporosis is dual X-ray absorptiomerty (DXA). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of assessing BMD at various parts of the distal radius (ultra-distal, mid-point, one third, and total) compared to the conventional sites (lumbar vertebrae and proximal femur) using DXA to diagnose osteoporosis. This was a retrospective study on 1,641 male patients over the age of 50 who had undergone bone densitometry (DXA scans) of at least one hip, lumbar vertebrae and distal radius. Ordinary regression and correlation analysis was used to assess the association between the lowest of the bone density scores of the hip or lumbar vertebrae and scans at the various sites on the radius. Comparing standardized scores from the radius method with the lowest standardized scores from the hip or lumbar vertebrae, a highly significant correlation was found, R = 0.59, p < 0.001 for the left UD radius, R =0.59, p < 0.001 for left MD radius, R =0.54, p < 0.001 for the left 1/3 radius, and R =0.60, p < 0.001 for the total left radius. The results indicate that the left radius total is the most accurate in diagnosing osteoporosis in our study population. The results of this study can have far-reaching psychosocio-economic implications showing that DXA scans of the distal radius can be used to effectively diagnose osteoporosis by using inexpensive, low-technology, portable scanners. These findings are particularly relevant to the needs of the undeserved rural populations of Central Appalachia.

Abstract available through http://www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.1037.5.

No description available.