Leadership changes in Health Professions programs

Master of Physician Assistant, MPA

Thomas Parish, DHSc, PA-C, retired from his role as Professor and Director of the EVMS Master of Physician Assistant (PA) Program in August. During his 12-year tenure as program director, Dr. Parish led the charge to update the PA program admissions process, enhance the curriculum, develop a core faculty of talented, dedicated PAs and improve the PA board performance of new graduates.

Kimberly Dempsey, MPA, PA-C, (MPA ’03), former Associate Program Director, has assumed the role of Director. “I graduated from the EVMS PA program in 2003, so this is especially meaningful to me,” Ms. Dempsey says. “I hope to continue the legacy Tom has created by continuous improvement of the curriculum and by creating a more robust research presence.”

Biomedical Sciences, PhD; Biomedical Sciences-Research, MS; and Biotechnology, MS

Earl Godfrey, PhD, stepped down as Program Director for all three programs after nine years in the position. Dr. Godfrey, Professor of Pathology and Anatomy, led the charge to create the Biotechnology Master’s program and worked with faculty over the past two years to develop a new curriculum for Biomedical Sciences-Research and Biomedical Sciences, PhD programs.

Margaret Morris, PhD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, stepped into the director role for all three programs. Dr. Morris is an active researcher and has worked with the program over the past year on curriculum reform.

“I love interacting with the students, and helping to shape the future of science,” Dr. Morris says. “One of my main goals as director is to work with EVMS Diversity and Inclusion to improve our relationships with the local historical black colleges and universities, and through these improved relationships, bring an extramural training grant to EVMS.”

Clinical Psychology, PhD

Michael Stutts, PhD, stepped down as Director of the Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology after 13 years. During his tenure, he also served as director of the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, overseeing all components of the program including those from the College of William and Mary, Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University.

Dr. Stutts led the program’s change from awarding a PsyD degree (Doctor of Clinical Psychology in Psychology, geared toward clinical practitioners) to a PhD degree with a heavier research component. He also successfully led the program to earn the full seven-year re-accreditation by the American Psychological Association.

Richard Handel, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is now Program Director. He has taught and mentored students in the Clinical Psychology program for more than a decade.

“I am extremely excited to assume of the role of director for our highly competitive doctoral program in clinical psychology,” Dr. Handel says. “I look forward to working closely with our institutional partners, Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University, in training future psychologists to be skilled researchers, teachers and clinicians.”