Theme: Shift the Drift

Introducing new perspectives to regularly practiced procedures in different disciplines may not be an easy task. We want to initiate conversations on how to reflect and bring awareness of analyzing what the drift is, determining the need for new ideas worth spreading in our community, and assessing the effectiveness of implementing new changes.

Arizona Western College Theater
Yuma Campus
2020 S. Ave. 8E.
Yuma, Arizona, 85366
United States

Anne-Heather Welch

Board-certified Radiologic Technologist

Anne-Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health with a Diagnostic Medical Imaging/Therapy Emphasis, is a board-certified Radiologic Technologist, and a member of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and Phi Theta Kappa. Dedicated to service, she supported organizations as active board/committee member for the American Business Women’s Association, the Auxiliary of Elk’s, and LGBTQ organizations locally and nationally, often assuming leadership roles. Research on psychological influence of patient choice in radiation safety earned her a scholarship at the Arizona Western College Student Showcase. She was awarded the YRMC Ernest F. Rillos, MD Memorial Scholarship, Kayla Sharp Memorial Scholarship; American Business Women’s Impact, Cook’s, and Assistance League of Yuma Academic Scholars Award; and the 100 Club of Arizona Award. Distinctions include serving as guest speaker at the Celebration of Scholars event at AWC and Commencement Keynote at a local high school.

Kevin Kato

Professor of English

Kevin Kato is a full-time faculty member at Arizona Western College where he teaches writing courses. He’s passionate about equipping students with the rhetorical knowledge and tools to effectively communicate in the variety of written and oral genres they’ll encounter along their academic and professional journeys. This passion also drives a domain of his research in technical professional communication (TPC). As a field also informed by rhetorical theory, technical professional communicators excel at bridging audiences through creating conditions for alignment and understanding. One such area is the rhetoric of health medicine. Kevin is interested in how rhetorically effective communication can not only improve the practice of medicine, but also help improve people’s health and wellbeing. He’s currently working on projects that explore metabolic health and functional movement. When not teaching or researching, you can find him pounding pavement around town or on the local trails.

Lily McNair

Dietetics Graduate Intern

Lily McNair is a Graduate Dietetic Intern at the University of Arizona and is completing her dietetic internship in Yuma, AZ in order to become a Registered Dietitian. She also works as a nutritionist for the Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. Lily works with a registered dietitian and medical providers to design and implement nutrition programs in the Yuma rural border community, in order to increase access to culturally competent nutrition care across life stages and health states. Her work has focused on women’s health, culinary medicine, and health education. Lily also serves as President of the Southwest District, Student Representative/Conference Committee for Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Student Representative for Nutrition Education for the Public Dietetic Practice Group. Lily’s personal and professional goal is to serve the underserved, support healthy living in clinical practice, and increase the health literacy rate through health education in Yuma.

Ruchi Lamba

Marketing Executive

Ruchi Lamba is a marketing executive with a passion for story telling through customer journeys. Applying the same thought process to her personal life, Ruchi has discovered insights that have uplifted, enlightened and taught her to thrive using the power of acceptance. Ruchi also runs a dance school where she teaches a 2,000-year-old ancient Indian dance form called Kathak (which means storytelling in Sanskrit). She is a single mom of two kids, including a 16-year-old son with autism. Ruchi combines her marketing experience, her journalism background, her Kathak training and her life experience as a single mother raising a mildly verbal child to help people use the power of acceptance to discover their hidden strengths.

Shadi Vahdat

Board-certified Internal Medicine Physician

Dr. Shadi Vahdat is a board-certified internal medicine physician specializing in integrative medicine. When she was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition and advised to start high risk medications shortly after finishing her medical training, she knew she wanted a different approach for treating her condition. Navigating a new course for her health journey resulted in additional training in integrative medicine which included: nutritional and lifestyle medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, yoga and meditation. She continues to treat hospital patients as assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and teaches doctors in training. She is the Founder for LiveWell Center for Integrative Medicine in Los Angeles and has authored several research papers in cardiovascular medicine. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, aerial acrobatics, and traveling with her husband and two daughters.

Shawn Clavell

Professor of Biology

Shawn Clavell. PT, DPT is a professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Arizona Western College. Dr Clavell received his baccalaureate degree in kinesiology from Arizona State University and a doctorate of Physical Therapy from Northern Arizona University. Dr. Clavell is also a licensed and practicing physical therapist in Yuma where he practices in both the hospital and outpatient settings. Shawn is dedicated to upholding the vision of the American Physical Therapy Association which is to “Transform society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience.” Dr. Clavell enjoys outdoor recreational activities with his family which includes his beautiful wife Sarah, young son (Remi), two cats, and dog. Shawn also participates in several volunteer events both civically and professionally.

Trisha Campbell

Professor of English

Dr. Trisha N Campbell is a trained and certified yogi. This training pervades her other work as an artist, researcher, and professor at Arizona Western College. She did her doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh in Writing and Rhetoric in 2015. She began her research trajectory by studying the language and affects that feed into and out of violence. From this careful study of violence, she began to ask what happens when we don’t assume violence is outside of us and our community? This led her to an impossible but necessary concept of radical empathy. Her research asks enduring questions around how to foster and practice a radically non-divisive empathy in our analogue and digital worlds. She is currently working on an article entitled “Empathy Training,” which is a series of vignette articulations of her serialed attempts at empathy—as both research and practice—throughout the last 5 years.

Troy Love

Author, Psychotherapist, Educator, Consultant

Two-time Amazon Best-Selling Author Troy L. Love, LCSW has spent his life committed to finding unique and attainable ways of helping people achieve peace, joy, and love in their lives. Troy began his training in trauma-informed recovery while achieving his Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating, Troy relocated to Yuma, Arizona, where he serves as Clinical Director of Yuma Counseling Services. He continues working as a Psychotherapist, Educator, Consultant, and Keynote Speaker. He is the founder of Finding Peace Consulting and is the Host of the Finding Peace Podcast. Troy continues writing books including his highly praised publication, “A Year of Self-Love.” Troy developed the Finding Peace Model which empowers learners to shift pain to purpose and live in choice. He is the father of two amazing children.

Trudie Milner

Chief Operating Officer at Yuma Regional Medical Center

Dr. Trudie F. Milner is the Chief Operating Officer of Yuma Regional Medical Center in Yuma, Arizona. She holds a PhD in Sociology with expertise in policy, organizational behavior and the management of change. Her professional background includes more than 25 years of diverse healthcare leadership experience ranging from entrepreneurship, the corporate side of healthcare, work in a large integrated multi-hospital system and an academic medical center. Dr. Milner has a strong record of achieving results for developing new lines of business, methods for delivery of services, multi-disciplinary collaboration, quality and performance improvement, and strategic planning. Passionate about the education of healthcare professionals, she is an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina where she has taught for the last 10 years. She is an active researcher and published author.

Valeria Bogorevich

Professor of English As A Second Language

Dr. Valeria Bogorevich is a teaching professor at Arizona Western College. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University. Her research focuses on second-language pedagogy and assessment.