The Faculty
P. Eugene Jones/Venetia L. Orcutt/
Laurette K. Dekat/Jennie A. Hocking/Rex L. Hobbs/
David J. Klocko/ Cristina M. González
The Staff
Linda S. Ward/JoAnn Hing/ Isela E. Perez/Heather Crisler/Yolanda G. Zambrano
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P. Eugene Jones, PhD, PA-C
Chairman and Professor
Dr. Jones completed his physician assistant education in 1975 while on active duty with the US Navy. His previous educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska, a Master's degree in Health Services Management, a Master's degree in Education, and a Doctorate in Education with a major in evaluation and quantitative analysis. He joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1993, serving as the department's Chairman since his arrival. He also serves as Chief of the Division of Post-Graduate Physician Assistant Education. His commitment to the advancement of the profession is evidenced by his ongoing contributions to the professional literature, his service as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, and his continuing position as a Past-President of the Physician Assistant Education Association. He conducts clinical research in the Department of Dermatology.
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Venetia L. Orcutt, PhD, PA-C
Vice Chair and Associate Professor
Ms. Orcutt is an alumna of UT Southwestern, completing her physician assistant education in 1984. Since her arrival in 1989, she has been recognized by the Association of Physician Assistant Programs as Outstanding Young Faculty and Master Teacher. Her commitment to quality in evaluation and continued competency is demonstrated by her previous involvement in the development of the Physican Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT). Having completed her PhD in Educational Research, her research focus encompasses healthcare workforce issues. She continues to work clinically in infectious disease.
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Laurette K. Dekat, MD, MPH
Medical Director
and Assistant Professor
Dr. Dekat joined the department in July, 2003. She is a graduate of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School and completed her pediatric training at the University of Oklahoma Children's Hospital. She also has a Masters in Public Health with emphasis in International Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Dekat is a board certified pediatrician with expertise in the field of adolescent and young adult medicine. She has experience as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern, and clinical experience as Associate Medical Director of the DeHaro-Saldivar Health Center of the Parkland Health and Hospital System. Her responsibilities include didactic teaching in pediatrics, integration skills, health promotion/disease prevention, and complementary medicine, as well as pediatric clinical site recruiting and coordination and oversight and mentoring of graduate student research projects.
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David J. Klocko, MPAS, PA-C
Clinical Coordinator
and Assistant Professor
| Mr. Klocko, earned his BS from King's College PA Program in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and his MPAS from the University of Nebraska Medical Center PA Program. He joined the department in June, 2005. Mr. Klocko is an experienced educator and brings clinical experience in emergency medicine, in-house critical care, and advanced life support. His responsibilities include development of clinical curriculum and scheduling of clinical rotation sites. |
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Jennie A. Hocking, MPAS, PA-C
Academic Coordinator
and Assistant Professor
| Ms. Hocking is an alumna of the University of Kansas and the first master's level class at UT Southwestern in 2003. She joined the program in January, 2006. Ms. Hocking brings clinical and research experience in surgery and vascular medicine from time spent with the UT Southwestern Division of Vascular Surgery. She contributes to both the clinical and didactic year through the medicine block and small group leadership and research mentoring. |
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Rex L. Hobbs, MPAS, PA-C
Assistant Professor
Mr. Hobbs completed his BS degree in Physician Assistant Studies at the UT Medical Branch in Galveston in 1994, and his Master's degree in 2003 from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His clinical work history began in rural health care and internal medicine, and includes orthopedics and geriatrics. His responsibilities include assist6ing in the pre-clinical curriculum and graduate project supervision. Current interests include geriatric medicine and health care delivery systems.
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Cristina M.González , MA
Curriculum Specialist
and Assistant Professor
Ms. González graduated from Texas A&M University with a Master of Arts in Spanish and joined our faculty in August 2000. She is currently developing and implementing a longitudinal Medical Spanish curriculum for the department. Her previous experience includes coordination of medical translation with the Division of Maternal Health and Family Planning and as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at Texas A&M University.
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Linda S. Ward
Senior Administration Associate
| Mrs. Ward has been with UT Southwestern since 1994. As the Department's Senior Administrative Associate and Departmental Administrator, she is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the office, supervision of administrative staff, financial accounting, coordination of all external activities such as recruiting and grant reports, as well as all personnel documentation. |
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JoAnn Hing
Clinical Education Coordinator
Mrs. Hing joined the Department in 2007 and has been with UT Southwestern Medical Center since 2001. As the Department's Clinical Education Coordinator, she assists the Clinical Coordinator with the development of clinical preceptorship sites, related affiliation agreements, and assignment of students to their clinical sites. She is also responsible for managing the preparation of examination documents, scoring, and maintaining the related databases.
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Isela E. Perez
Pre-Clinical Education Coordinator
| Ms. Perez joined the Department in 1997. As the Department's Pre-Clinical Education Coordinator, she manages the student recruitment and application process, as well as the development, generation and scoring of exams. She assists the Academic Coordinator on the pre-clinical curriculum, class registration and classroom scheduling. |
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Heather Crisler
Pre-Clinical Education Assistant
| Ms. Crisler graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Health and joined the Department in March 2008. Ms. Crisler is also a Certified Health Education Specialist. She will be assisting the Clinical Coordinator and working with the Pre-Clinical Education Coordinator. |
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Yolanda G. Zambrano
Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Zambrano joined the Department in August, 2004. She is the welcoming presence in the front office and the cheerful voice that answers the telephone. She provides information on the program and the application process, and administrative support to the faculty and staff.
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