Category Archives: Academic

WCU Tech Expert Named to International Certification Committee

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Richard Viloria discovered his passion in childhood, not long after he started playing computer games.

“I played arcade and computer games a lot,” he recalls, laughing. “‘When the machines broke, I had to fix them.”

By the time he had finished high school, he had aced a class in computer programming and was on his way to Cal State L.A., to study electrical engineering. While working his way through college doing information technology jobs, however, he got pleasantly sidetracked–he was hired at American Career College to support its IT growth. As a member of the IT department, Viloria supported both American Career College and West Coast University.

Fourteen years later, Viloria is now supporting WCU’s simulation centers, and the expertise he has gathered has recently earned him a prestigious invitation: This month, he will join a small cadre of technology experts from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare to help develop the first worldwide certification exam for technicians and specialists in health care simulation.

In layman’s terms, those are the people who operate and maintain the high-tech mannequins and equipment that nursing and medical schools increasingly are using to train health care workers. Equipped with artificial organs and programmable responses, simulators allow students to practice and interact with life-like “patients” in a variety of clinical situations.

However, computerized health care simulators are complex and expensive, and so new to the field that standardized guidelines for their mastery are only now being developed.

“The field of simulation in health care is exploding,” says WCU Simulation Education and Management Director Terry Larsen, Ph.D., R.N. C.N.S., who recently helped devise the first certification exam for educators who use simulation. “But it’s only been in the last 10 or 15 years that we’ve had the technology to create mannequins with human-like responses. At the moment, the people who operate and maintain them are coming from a lot of different backgrounds, and we want to be able to start certifying their competence.”

It was Larsen who recommended Viloria to serve on the international committee that’s developing the certification exam in his field, in part because Viloria has been overseeing WCU’s simulation environment for the past three years. In that time, he says, he has used his IT know-how to assess software, integrate the simulators into WCU’s larger IT network, improve the workflow for educators using the mannequins and simplify videotaping for teachers and students.

“The Sim Center is like a recording studio,” says Larsen. “And when the simulation centers were being built, Richard integrated the technology. He manages all the IT here in our centers along with his IT team making videos of the simulations accessible to our faculty and making the mannequins work when there are problems. He’s done a wonderful job here. He was the perfect candidate.”

WCU Dental Hygiene Students Win 3rd Place at CDHA Annual Session

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West Coast University Dental Hygiene students attended the California Dental Hygienists’ Association’s (CDHA) Annual Session on Friday April 12, 2013, where they presented original research posters. The students are currently enrolled in a Research Methodology course, taught by Professor Aubreé Chismark, RDH, MS, where their research began.

Out of four research groups who presented at the conference, one group placed 3rd and received a commemorative plaque, cash award, and a foundation scholarship from the California Dental Hygienists’ Association and California Dental Association. Their research project was titled Efficacy of Probiotics in Reducing Cariogenic Bacteria, by Brynne Meza, Christine Galindez, Patricia Malubay, and Wendy Wu Sotelo. Professor Mihaela Popa, RDH, MBA, mentored them through the project. The students have the opportunity to travel to Boston, MA to present their research nationally at the American Dental Hygienists’ Association’s (ADHA) Annual Session on June 19, 2013.

The following groups also presented at the CDHA Annual Session: Have You Ever Been Buffered? by Heather Schneider, Phong Nguyen, Alexa-Rae Sasaki, and Cassie Redlew, mentored by Professor Audrey Hung, RDH, MPH; Thyroid Disease: Are You at Risk as a Dental Professional? by Aida Menasaka, Roman Hayes, Philip Valencia, and Cynthia Zhang mentored by Professor Annette Stelter, RDH, BS, these students will also be presenting nationally at the ADHA Annual Session in Boston, MA;  How Fast Do You Neutralize? by Nam Le, Paula Dacumos, Kaylyn Dunbar, and Aaron Janosco, mentored by Professor Beverly Lovelace, RDH, MS.

Alumni Spotlight on an MSHCM Graduate: Jill Dickson, RN, OCN

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When Jill Dickson applied to West Coast University’s Master of Science in Health Care Management (MSHCM) program, she was managing Cancer Services at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. She knew she wanted – really, needed – to get a Master’s degree to advance her career.

First, Jill tried a Master’s in Public Health program at a Cal State college but found the program wasn’t right for her. Its focus was public health education rather than health care management – not applicable to the day-to-day demands in her leadership role at the hospital. The program’s traditional delivery model also made it difficult for Jill to attend late afternoon classes while working full time at a demanding job.

When a colleague at the hospital described the MSHCM program at West Coast University, it sounded like the perfect fit, and it turns out, it was.

To Jill Dickson, the most important aspect of the MSHCM program was its direct application to her career. Jill is responsible for all cancer patients in Northridge Hospital, as they move through the continuum of services. She manages radiation oncology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, Gamma Knife, Navigator program, the cancer registry and cancer research.

“There is not one thing in the program that was irrelevant to my work,” she said. “The program is truly about management and being a health care leader. It gave me new tools and skills to do my job more efficiently and effectively.”

For example, Northridge Hospital had just started a construction project when Jill began the MSHCM course in project management. As the manager of the construction project, she was able to use the organizational tools taught in the class to complete the job – the removal and reinstallation of a linear accelerator – from start to finish in only six weeks.

For one course, Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Health Care Management, Jill drew on her work experience to create a business plan for a Survivorship Clinic that is now on its way to becoming a reality. In fact, Jill submitted and was awarded a $100,000 grant and has a second grant application in progress for survivorship services at Northridge Hospital.

To make the program work for her, Jill scheduled coursework around her work hours. She linked class projects to work projects. She completed coursework while on business trips because all she needed was access to a computer and the Internet. “I could do the work at my own pace, and I made use of all the available tools from electronic lecture notes, to electronic tests, computer stations in the classrooms, and the extensive online library and database,” she said.

Because of the MSHCM program’s bookend approach, Jill also formed lasting professional relationships with faculty and other students that would not have been possible if the program was solely online. The bookend style of program delivery incorporates on campus classes at the start and close of the each class, with online coursework in between. “The professors understood that graduate students have multiple priorities and made themselves available beyond office hours and email,” she said. “I would not have been able to complete my Master’s degree as quickly or conveniently without this program.”