The LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative resides within the LINC Faculty Council. This working group is dedicated to advancing interprofessional education (IPE) activities that take place outside of formal curricula; in other words, IPE activities that do not lead to a formal transcript designation. These are voluntary IPE activities undertaken by students to augment learning and/or professional development. Co-Curricular IPE activities can take place in diverse locations, including classrooms, laboratories, simulation centers, community settings, and clinical environments. Annually, the Leader of the LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative and the LINC Director collaborate to develop charges to guide Initiative efforts and maximize contributions to the QEP.
Revise content, scheduling, implementation processes/procedures and evaluations for the Spring 2023 LINC Interprofessional Case Competition based on program evaluation data collected and stakeholder feedback obtained from the Spring 2022 event, and increase student participation from 6 to 18 teams.
Submit at least one national peer-reviewed poster or podium presentation based on outcomes from the Spring 2022 LINC Interprofessional Case Competition.
Working in collaboration with the Leader of the LINC Faculty & Staff Development Initiative, contribute co-curricular IPE expertise to the creation of workshops aimed at improving the IPE knowledge and skills of UT Health San Antonio employees and their attempts to increase quality IPE opportunities for students.
Submit at least one proposal for extramural funding to support the LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative’s efforts to develop high-quality co-curricular IPE.
Contributions to Collaborative Scholarship
Click here to view a summary of scholarly dissemination products from the LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative.
Moshtagh Farokhi, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Leader, LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative
Professor/Clinical, School of Dentistry
Dental Director, San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic farokhi@uthscsa.edu
Moshtagh Farokhi, D.D.S., M.P.H., leads the LINC Faculty Council’s Co-Curricular IPE Initiative, which spearheads the Co-Curricular IPE Track within the LINC Faculty & Staff Development Program and the LINC Interprofessional Case Competition. Dr. Farokhi brings private practice and teaching experience to her research at the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry. Her interests lie at the intersection of disease prevention, health promotion and community engagement, with a focus on IPE, social determinants of health, refugee health, acculturation and service learning. Her teaching is founded on principles of active learning and critical thinking, with an emphasis on cultural humility and empathy. Dr. Farokhi collaborates with various professions and partners within local community organizations, such as the Center for Refugee Services and Edgewood Independent School District, to address health disparities. She was recently appointed as a member of the UT System Shine Academy of Health Science Education. Dr. Farokhi was part of the QEP development team that pre-dated LINC, and she has represented the School of Dentistry on the LINC Faculty Council since June 2018. In 2021, Dr. Farokhi received the Academy of General Dentistry’s highest honor of Lifelong Learning and Service Recognition or LLSR, for her commitment to lifelong learning and service to the community and organized dentistry.
Irene Chapa, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Recruitment & Science Outreach
Director, Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy
Office of the President chapai@uthscsa.edu
Reflecting on the importance of mentorship for students seeking careers in the biomedical arena, Dr. Chapa established and continues to direct the Office of Recruitment and Science Outreach at UTHSA. This office motivates and educates students, while equipping them with tools leading to a successful biomedical career. Dr. Chapa has served on many advisory boards developing multidisciplinary science outreach initiatives for the community. Her office has contact with over 15,000 students per year and has been developing, designing and implementing pipeline programs for 19 years, though Dr. Chapa has been involved with outreach efforts for over 30 years.
Michael Geelhoed, D.P.T., OCS, MTC
Associate Professor/Clinical & Director of Clinical Education, Physical Therapy Program
School of Health Professions geelhoed@uthscsa.edu
Michael Geelhoed, D.P.T., OCS, MTC, serves as Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education at UT Health San Antonio Department of Physical Therapy. He co-directs the IPE Ethics class in the School of Health Professions and leads the co-curricular IPE student-run free clinics and global health initiatives for Physical Therapy. He is the President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association, and has published, presented and been recognized with awards for teaching excellence and community and professional service at the local, state and national levels.
Sean E. Garcia M.D., FHM
Professor/Clinical, Department of Medicine, Division of General & Hospital Medicine
Long School of Medicine garciase@uthscsa.edu
Sean E. Garcia, M.D., FHM, is currently a Professor/Clinical of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. He is medical director of Pride Clinic, a student faculty collaborative clinic in which nursing, medical and pharmacy students care for the LGBTQ+ population.
Le’Keisha D. Johnson, M.B.A.
Director, Office of Student Life
Office of the Vice President for Academic, Faculty & Student Affairs johnsonld@uthscsa.edu
Le’Keisha D. Johnson, M.B.A., is an administrator and student affairs practitioner who collaborates with campus-wide leadership to create impactful programming and services for students. With nearly 17 years of experience, she understands the importance of collaboration in student affairs, as well as, patient care and research. Le’Keisha secured university grant funding for 5 consecutive years for the Interprofessional Leadership Scholars Program (ILSP) – a one semester co-curricular program that gives students the skills needed to work in an interprofessional team environment. The ILSP was highlighted in the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan as an example of co-curricular IPE at UT Health San Antonio. Le’Keisha currently serves as the Director of the Office of Student Life and holds a B.B.A. in Management and an M.B.A. in Project Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Pamela Recto, Ph.D., RN
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Assistant Director, South Texas Area Health Education Center recto@uthscsa.edu
Pamela Recto, Ph.D., RN, is an assistant professor at UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing and is the assistant director for the South Texas Area Health Education Center. Dr. Recto has 18 years of experience in family-centered care with newborns and families as a registered nurse. Her work as an early-stage investigator focuses on community-partnered exploratory research with underserved populations who are living with various health and social inequities. Additionally, she has knowledge in health disparities and mental health research. Her research has focused on the following areas: 1) assessing the mental health literacy of Mexican-American adolescent mothers concerning perinatal depression, 2) understanding the factors surrounding opioid-related maternal mortality, 3) examining the perspectives of Hispanic young fathers on parenthood and 4) exploring the mental health needs of young fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Recto collaborates with various professions and community organizations and conducts community-engaged research with the goal of helping marginalized populations in South Texas gain access to vital health care resources and services that will improve health outcomes and well-being.
Melanie Stone, M.P.H., M.Ed.
Assistant Director of Community Service Learning, Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics
Long School of Medicine stonem@uthscsa.edu
Melanie Stone, M.P.H., M.Ed., directs the Community Service Learning (CSL) program through the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. This innovative program promotes student and faculty engagement with community organizations in conducting service projects which benefit medically underserved populations in Texas. She is adjunct faculty at The University of Texas School of Public Health, San Antonio regional campus.
Ms. Stone is passionate about public health and enjoys integrating a public health focus into an academic health science center. Her expertise is health literacy, and she helps bring health literacy awareness, knowledge and skills to the future health care professional workforce. She is currently Co-Investigator on a multi-year US Department of Health and Human Services grant “Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19.” She is actively involved in the community, serving as Vice President of Health Literacy Texas and on the governing council of the Texas Public Health Association.
Formerly, Ms. Stone supervised a community clinic outreach program, coordinated research for a large public health study, served as a public school teacher and managed the outreach and education section of University Health System’s CareLink program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and anthropology from Trinity University and master’s degrees in public health from UT School of Public Health and education from Texas State University. She is currently working towards her doctor of public health degree at UT School of Public Health.
Heidi J. Worabo, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC
Associate Professor/Clinical
School of Nursing worabo@uthscsa.edu
Heidi J. Worabo, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC, is an Associate Professor/Clinical in the School of Nursing at UT Health San Antonio and is the Track Coordinator for the Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Dr. Worabo is a board-certified family nurse practitioner at Wellness 360 Employee and Student Health Center and serves as the Assistant Director of the San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic. She collaboratively leads an interprofessional team of faculty and students to deliver culturally sensitive primary care for resettled refugees and engages in ongoing quality improvement initiatives to promote health and wellbeing of the community.
Past Members
We would like to recognize and thank the following past members of the LINC Co-Curricular IPE Initiative (listed alphabetically by last name): Jeff Lacy, M.L.I.S., M.A., Library Liaison (2019-2020); and Janna Lesser, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Professor, School of Nursing & Director, South Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) (2018-2021).
Moshtagh Farokhi, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Irene Chapa, Ph.D.
Michael Geelhoed, D.P.T., OCS, MTC
Sean E. Garcia M.D., FHM
Le’Keisha D. Johnson, M.B.A.
Pamela Recto, Ph.D., RN
Melanie Stone, M.P.H., M.Ed.
Heidi J. Worabo, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC