Perspectives Winter/Spring-2017

24 • NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Awakenings: Horses Enhance Awareness in Anesthesia Students Anesthesiologist Assistant FORT LAUDERDALE BY SHELLEY GREEN, PH.D., LMFT, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY THERAPY For six weeks in the summer of 2016, students in NSU’s anesthesiologist assistant (AA) programs honed their skills and enhanced their professionalism in a barn rather than in the lab or classroom. This unique training experience, which was created and offered by the staff members of Stable Place in Davie, Florida, and the NSU Department of Family Therapy, offered AA students the opportunity to learn experientially. Through structured activities with horses, students learned how to develop and refine their self-confidence, assertiveness, leadership skills, and awareness of their immediate context, which are valuable skills that will benefit them in their future careers. Valerie Judd, executive director of Stable Place—a local non- profit offering equine-assisted clinical services, education, and training—and I developed the program and curriculum and trained the staff members involved in the delivery. Ellen Rondino, M.S., manager of clinical operations for the Depart- ment of Anesthesia and a master’s degree student in the Family Therapy Program, also was instrumental in launching the collaboration that led to the innovative pilot project. Rob Wagner, M.M.Sc., CAA, chair, Department of Anesthesia, and Jermaine Leclerc, M.H.Sc., M.H.S.A., CAA, program direct- or and assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus, provided the enthusiasm and administrative support that allowed the program to thrive. n From left: Class of 2017 students Jackie Neagos, Stephanie Wood, and Johnny Olson with Paris during a clinical day at the barn