Caring Ospreys: UNF Alumni In Healthcare

UNF alumni are healing, comforting and inspiring innovation across the First Coast and beyond. In a wide variety of fields, these difference makers are impacting patients, families and communities every day and motivating those around them to do better and do more. This UNF Journal is proud to feature just a few of these exceptional Ospreys in healthcare, who all share an incredible desire to care for others.

Kathryn Eraso, M.D., ‘10 - Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, UF Health Jacksonville

As an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Kathryn Eraso loves being able to care for women thro

ugh all stages of their lives and provide a “safe place” for them to discuss topics they may not feel comfortable talking about in other settings.

“Having that continuity of care is something so special,” she said. “It is really a unique opportunity. Also, being able to operate on women and have them trust me to take care of them during that stage as well — that is really rewarding.”

Eraso realized at a very young age that she wanted to care for others. Her mother was a nurse, and her exposure to medicine was extensive. At UNF, she majored in biology and had multiple opportunities to conduct research with professors. Eraso said this taught her how to do things in a successful manner and also helped her narrow her areas of interests.

“The environment that UNF sets up — smaller classes where you can really focus — let me ge

t to dabble in a lot of things and find things that I enjoyed and was passionate about,” Eraso said, commenting that having the opportunities to do research and learning to balance research and school work prepared her well for medical school at the University of Florida.

Today, Eraso not only sees patients in her practice, but she also teaches and interacts with residents at UF Health. And during the pandemic, she’s had some other new experiences. Telemedicine has expanded allowing her to help some patients virtually, and she also had her first child. “It has been an interesting time,” said Eraso. “I’m now able to relate to patients in a whole new way!”

Bryan Murphy, MHA, BSN, CRRN, ’09, ‘16 - Vice President, Hospital Operations, Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital at Bartram Campus
Bryan Murphy is a people person, and he is passionate about providing quality access to patien

ts in his hometown.

 
Today, Murphy is the VP of hospital operations for Brooks’ new acute rehabilitation hospital set to open in Jan. 2022 and will serve patients recovering from stroke, cardiac, neurologic, trauma, brain and spinal cord injuries, and other medically complex conditions. In the interim, Murphy heads up the 2nd floor of Brooks Hospital on the University Campus housing brain injury and pediatric patient populations. He remains active at UNF, serving on the Health Administration alumni board, as co-chair of the HA mentorship program, and as an academic coach, matching students with mentors to help guide them on their leadership journey. Murphy is also the current president of NE Florida Chapter of the Association for Rehabilitation Nurses.

“Serving as a resource to friends, family, and people in our community has provided significant meaning in my life. People often reach out to me when they are in a time of crisis, trying to navigate the healthcare system while supporting an injured loved one,” Murphy said. “I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to help. Both UNF and Brooks Rehabilitation have prepared me to support our community in exciting ways.”

Laura Viafora Ray, MPH, CPH, ‘13 - Project Manager, The Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Project, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department
For the past decade, Laura Viafora Ray has been working to improve the health and well-being of citizens in Florida through a wide variety of public health programs — youth safety, HIV prevention, HPV vaccine promotion, healthcare access and mental health.

In her current role, she has a targeted mission. Viafora Ray is currently employed with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department as a project director leading the Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Project, a partnership between the City of Jacksonville, Drug Free Duval and Gateway Community Services. The project is funded through a $1.5 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) with a goal to decrease opioid overdose deaths in Jacksonville through education and distribution of a nasal spray, NARCAN®.

Viafora Ray says NARCAN® removes opioids from the receptors in the brain to quickly restore breathing during an overdose. It is FDA-approved, safe and effective, and can be administered by anyone who is minimally trained. “There are countless inspiring stories of individuals in recovery who may never have had the opportunity to be where they are today, or to even be alive, if NARCAN® had not been available,” said Viafora Ray. As project director, Viafora Ray collects and analyzes data, coordinates NARCAN training and distribution, and works with key stakeholders and organizations in the substance abuse prevention and recovery community.

Viafora Ray is also an adjunct professor with UNF’s Department of Public Health. She has taught courses on personal and public health, public health research methods, and planning and implementing public health programs, and is currently teaching medical terminology. She is an active alumna and co-chairs the UNF Public Health Alumni Network (PHAN).

Viafora Ray says one of her primary goals as a public health professional is to combat health disparities among marginalized groups so that everyone has access to resources to keep them safe and well. “One of the most important parts of my job is determining ways to connect people to resources,” Viafora Ray said. “I wanted a position where I knew I was making a difference.”

Janice Foster, CCLS, CIMT, ‘14 - Child Life Specialist, Wolfson Children’s Hospital
When Janice Foster was growing up, she loved watching the St. Jude telethons on TV, and she knew from an early age that she wanted to help sick children maintain some normalcy during difficult times. Foster is now doing just that as a child life specialist at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. She actually didn’t know such a job existed until she was conducting research while a psychology major at UNF. Today Foster works in the hospital’s neuroscience unit caring for children with neurological illnesses and injuries. Her job helps patients and their families understand and cope with what is happening to them. The child life specialists also use medical play to reduce anxiety, perhaps placing an IV on a child’s teddy bear to match theirs or using an anesthesia mask to blow bubbles.

Foster and the 12 other child life specialists at Wolfson work with newborns to young adults, including those needing acute care to those with chronic illnesses. The focus is all about making the children and their families more comfortable, while educating them and relieving some of their fears. “I love helping my patients realize what they’re capable of when faced with something that scares them,” Foster said. “When the child’s fears are alleviated, their parents and families feel better too, which is an added benefit.”

Outside of her normal duties, Foster created an innovative partnership, Emerging Pediatric Professionals, between Wolfson and the University of North Florida, giving UNF nursing students opportunities to engage with patients through bedside activities. The nurses even created a playbook with tips to assist future nurses in the program. “It’s truly a win-win situation,” she said. “It makes them better nurses, and our patients truly love spending time with them!”

Brian Frampton, DNP, CRNA, ‘20 - Staff CRNA, Orange Park Medical Center
Brian Frampton embraces each new day. The retired Navy petty officer turned nurse practitioner/ nurse anesthetist is grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in patients’ lives and for all those who have enriched his own.

His desire to care for others stems from his own experiences. In 2004, Frampton’s life changed dramatically when a routine Navy physical identified a serious heart condition. His naval career ended and three years later, Frampton had a heart transplant, then later a kidney transplant. Through it all, he remembers the nurses and medical staff who made a profound difference in his life. One nurse engaged him in long discussions about electrical work and fabrication — skills Frampton developed in the Navy. “He engaged me in something he knew would distract me,” Frampton said. “This is the power of caring.” After his heart transplant, another nurse held his hand while he wept for the family of the heart donor — a 17-year-old who had just gotten his license a month before being killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Now employed at Orange Park Medical Center and on call at Ascension St. Vincent’s, Frampton is working to ease the burdens of others and provide that same quality care he received. Frampton, who has been working as a pediatric cardiac intensive care nurse, received the Key Bradbury Endowed Nursing Fellowship to support his graduate studies and, in December, earned his Doctor of Nursing Practice in nurse anesthesiology degree. He also was the recipient of the program’s Phyllis A. Roberts Professional Vision Award for leadership and advocacy.

Today, his focus is obstetric anesthesia, though he also works in trauma and in the OR for standard surgeries. “What inspires me to get up every day and do anesthesia is the acknowledgement of the incredible opportunity I have to make life, the birth experience, or the scariest surgery ever, just a little bit better by being there.”

Sandra Sheffield, D.O., ‘13 - Internal Medicine Resident, UF Health Jacksonville
Sandra Sheffield always knew she wanted to become a doctor. Growing up in Honduras, Sheffield recalls seeing sick people in her community and thinking, “One day I will be able to help these people.”

Sheffield, a UNF biology alum now in her last year of residency at UF Health Jacksonville, was always a bright and studious child who loved science. In middle school, her strong academic performance helped her win a scholarship to attend a private high school. There she had the opportunity to volunteer in a local clinic, and her desire to pursue medicine continued to grow. Still, the dream hardly seemed possible until an uncle in the U.S. offered to move her to the states to pursue the goal. Sheffield said it was not a simple transition — she first had to learn English. She went to community college, then transferred to UNF where she studied molecular biology and epidemiology. She received the Eddie Skolfield scholarship, named for a past Jacksonville physician and designated for a science student interested in biology, ultimately leading to a career in medicine. Sheffield said she had toured other schools but UNF was the right fit for her because of the small class sizes and one-on-one attention she received. “I’ve always been very inquisitive,” she said. “Being able to talk with professors in a small class was definitely best for me.”

After graduating from UNF, Sheffield entered the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Georgia and was named a National Health Service Corps Scholar, a highly competitive honor. The NHSC is a federal program that helps fund tuition and other educational costs in return for a commitment to work in an underserved community after graduation for a set period of time. Growing up in Honduras seeing many people without adequate healthcare, Sheffield always had a desire to serve those who need it the most and don’t have access. Her residency ends in June, and she looks forward to the next stage in her career — not only treating patients but educating them.

“I love to help people,” said Sheffield. “I think the duty of a doctor is to be an educator. I look forward to helping patients learn how to improve their health.”