DCHS Faculty Members Honored with James H. Korn Award

Two Doisy College of Health Sciences (DCHS) faculty members – Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D, ATC, FASAHP, Athletic Training Program Director and Ginge Kettenbach, PT, Ph.D., FNAP, Professor in the Program in Physical Therapy; along with Dr. Leslie Hinyard, from the SLU Center for Outcomes Research and Dr. Katie Eliot, former SLU faculty now at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center – recently received Saint Louis University’s (SLU) prestigious James H. Korn Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award. They earned the award through their research on teaching and student learning, more specifically, in the field of interprofessional education.

Drs. Anthony Breitbach and Ginge Kettenbach were among the 2019 James H. Korn Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award recipients.

The James H. Korn Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was established in 2006, in recognition of Dr. Jim Korn's many contributions to the research on teaching and learning. Professor emeritus in Psychology, Dr. Korn was deeply committed to scholarly teaching at SLU; he was also a member of the faculty committee that first established the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning in 1997. Thanks to Dr. Korn’s generosity, one award of $500 is given to the home department of the awardee(s) each year for use as professional development funds for those receiving the award.

This award specifically recognized their work in IPE 1100: Introduction to Interprofessional Health Care, which has approximately 200 students from 10 different health professions each semester. It began through the assessment of the course outcomes, through the development of a validated assessment instrument to a study through the Interprofessional Education Research Collaborative, where four universities together study the outcomes of introductory IPE experiences in unique learning contexts with different learner levels.

“Our collaboration started by assessing the effectiveness of our teaching and it has grown through the dissemination of a validated instrument to a multi-institutional project that is moving forward introductory interprofessional education experiences,” Dr. Breitbach said.

Interprofessional education is a topic that Dr. Breitbach believes is crucial to the students who will be future health care professionals.

“By identifying and utilizing knowledge, skills and abilities common to all professions, interprofessional education prepares students for collaborative practice in a constantly evolving health care environment,” Dr. Breitbach said.

This marks the second time Dr. Kettenbach has been honored with the James H. Korn Award (2013, 2019) and the first time Dr. Breitbach has received the award. At least one DCHS faculty member has earned the award in three of the previous four years.

Saint Louis University is a Catholic, Jesuit institution that values academic excellence, life-changing research, compassionate health care, and a strong commitment to faith and service. Founded in 1818, the University fosters the intellectual and character development of nearly 13,000 students on two campuses in St. Louis and Madrid, Spain. Building on a legacy of more than 200 years, Saint Louis University continues to move forward with an unwavering commitment to a higher purpose, a greater good.