CHCS - Perspectives Winter/Spring 2016

COLLEGE OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCES • 59 has a goal of changing lives through the word of God and the provision of medical care. To assist the school, CHCS Fort Myers students and faculty members have collected textbooks, crutches, scrubs, and lab coats to send to Cameroon. In past years, the Fort Myers program has shared curricular material with the Hibberts as they successfully launched their PA school. Students from both programs hope to ini- tiate a pen-pal arrangement in the near future to learn more about each other’s experiences in PA school. The couple’s future goals include the completion of a 15,000-square-foot clinic, as well as the construc- tion of a new school and residence for the students to allow training of more vitally needed physician assistants. For additional information about the Cameroon school, please con- tact the Hibberts at opendoormedical@aol.com . ■ John and Omelda Hibbert, left, perform surgery with a Cameroonian PA student. Kyrus Patch, D.H.Sc. , M.S.P.A.S., PA-C, who has been a physician assistant since 1977, was named program director of the Fort Myers PA Program in July 2015. After graduating with a B.S. in Medi- cal Science from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia, she began her medical career in rural Ohio, where she treated patients in an outpatient facility and made house calls on a routine basis. Patch returned to the mountains of West Virginia as the senior medical officer at Snowshoe Ski Resort 1980–1985 and spent the offseason working in the cardiology depart- ment of Memorial General Hospital in nearby Elkins. After tiring of the subzero winter climate, she moved to Orlando, Florida, and worked for Walt Disney World, making house calls to guests throughout the complex. A subsequent move to Naples, Florida, resulted in her working as a physician assistant in an urgent care/ family practice setting from 1988 to 2007. After earn- ing her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies in 2007 from her alma mater, she became an assistant professor at NSU’s Fort Myers Campus. She subse- quently earned her doctorate in health science in June 2015. Prior to being named program director, Patch served as the course director for Physical Diagnosis I, II, and III and for Clinical Pharmacology and as the program’s academic director and associate program director. After 30 years of clinical practice as a physician assistant, Patch hopes to teach a new gener- ation of physician assistants what it means to be a knowledgeable, compassionate, and professional health care provider. ■ Fort Myers Welcomes New Program Director Kyrus Patch