Dean Dawn Morton-Rias to be a Summer Fulbright Senior Specialist at University of Haifa
May 1, 2008
Brooklyn, NY - Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C, dean of SUNY Downstate’s School of Health Professions, has been selected for a Fulbright Senior Specialists project at the University of Haifa in Israel this summer.
Dr. Morton-Rias will attend workshops, meetings, and make field visits at leading medical centers in Israel. Workshops will include faculty from academia, health professionals, and clinical preceptors and will focus on curricula planning, development of learning activities, diversity, learning styles and cultures, as well as distance learning for clinical students. “I am thrilled with this tremendous opportunity for me to learn and share ideas on how things are done in the field and to be able to bring some of that back here to the Downstate community,” Dr. Morton-Rias said.
Dr. Morton-Rias is one of more than 400 faculty and professionals who will travel abroad this year through the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program. The Fulbright Senior Specialists Program was created in 2000 to complement the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program. It provides short-term academic opportunities to prominent American faculty and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at post secondary, academic institutions around the world.
Dr. Morton-Rias is a certified physician assistant, and is the immediate past-president of the Physician Assistant Education Association. Dr. Morton-Rias earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science degree and PA Certificate from Howard University. She earned a Doctorate of Education from St. John’s University in Queens, NY.
Dr. Morton-Rias’ commitment to quality healthcare services through education of the next generation of health professionals is unwavering. She is nationally recognized for her leadership in PA education, and she has presented and published on various clinical topics, faculty development, accreditation, cultural competence and learning styles.
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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.