Fall 2005

Message from the Dean | Graduates Make First Class Gift | Carter-Fleck Professorship Contributes... | Weinert Named Carter-Fleck Professor | Geriatric Program Benefits... | Albers Champions Midwifery Program | Dominguez Receives Alumni Award | Simulated Learning and Online Programs Offer Realistic Training |

By Aaron Martinez

When Spanish colonists settled along the Rio Grande valley in the 1600s, they brought along parteras, or midwives, to attend women during childbirth.

Fast forward several hundred years and find that the UNM College of Nursing Midwifery program ranks third in the country according to a recent issue of US News & World Report. Contributing to the ranking, Dr. Leah Albers, an obstetrics and gynecology professor in the College of Nursing, received the Dorothea Lang Pioneer Award at the 50th annual meeting of the American College of Nurse Midwives held in Washington, D.C. this past summer. The annual award recognizes an innovator in the field, and Albers is recognized as a research expert in evidence-based midwifery practice.

“I was in full-scope practice for 11 years,” says Albers, who holds a doctoral degree in public health and is a certified nurse midwife, or CNM. “Having started with doctoral studies, research became the logical next step for me, and I found it closely linked to practice,” she says. Albers’ more than 50 scholarly articles have been published in national and international journals. She holds a UNM Regent’s Lectureship Award and was also a UNM Regent’s Professor. In 2000, she became the first midwife to hold the Geoffrey Thorburn Visiting Professorship of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Currently, Albers is on a year-long sabbatical in Australia, but calls New Mexico a special place because of the people and the opportunity to teach. “The most fascinating thing about teaching is our students at UNM,” comments Albers. “We’re fortunate in our nurse-midwifery education program to draw strong-willed and committed nurses who wish to become midwives.”

Julie Gorwoda, CNM, the College’s midwifery program director, says that to successfully draw and retain students, the program needs an adequately funded endowment. “Our students deserve the support an endowment can provide,” comments Gorwoda. On average, six to 10 students graduate from the program with a 99 percent first-time pass rate for the National Board Exam.

Established in 2003 by Dorothy Beach, CNM, and Stephanie Ricci-Nicodemus, CNM, the Midwifery Program Endowment will provide scholarships for students and assist them with other program needs when fully funded at $15,000. “Students in the midwifery program receive their clinical experiences in New Mexico through clinics and hospitals,” says Gorwoda. “Our mission is to educate nurse midwives for rural areas and underserved populations.”

To contribute to the Midwifery Program Endowment, please contact Rosemary Gregory, development officer for the College, at (505) 272-0200.