Nurse Anesthesia faculty bring accomplishments, experience, new ideas

Susan McMullan, PhD, CRNA
Susan McMullan Susan headshotDr. Susan McMullanSusan McMullan joined the UAB School of Nursing in 2015 as the Nurse Anesthesia Specialty Track Coordinator. Prior to her move to Birmingham, she was on faculty at Rush University Graduate College of Nursing and had previously served as the Nurse Anesthesia Program Director at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. In her current role, Dr. McMullan manages day-to-day operations of the Nurse Anesthesia Program, which regularly includes curriculum review and development, simulated learning, student recruitment and management, hiring of new staff, and representation of the program locally, regionally and nationally. As an Associate Professor, she currently teaches Advanced Principles of Anesthesia and oversees all courses taught in the Nurse Anesthesia Program. With clinical experience spanning nearly 30 years she has performed all forms of anesthesia care delivery. Dr. McMullan maintains her faculty practice at UAB Callahan Eye Hospital. She is a 2016 Dean’s Scholar Award recipient for her research on CRNA workload and patient safety. Dr. McMullan earned her BSN from University of Michigan, her MSN in Nurse Anesthesia from Rush University, and her PhD from Rutgers, the State College of New Jersey.

Woodfin Katie headshotKatie WoodfinKatie Woodfin, MSN, CRNA
Katie Woodfin joined the UAB School of Nursing faculty in August 2015. As an Instructor, she serves as the program’s Clinical Coordinator and teaches Basic Anesthesia Principles. Ms. Woodfin also teaches undergraduate pathophysiology and pharmacology courses. Her research interests include the use of cell salvage systems in the operating room and patient handoff from the anesthesia provider to post-operative care personnel. After working in her hometown of Huntsville as a Staff CRNA at Huntsville Hospital, she moved to Birmingham to begin her faculty role. Ms. Woodfin earned her BSN from Auburn University and her MSN in Nurse Anesthesia from UAB.

Todd L. Hicks, DNP, MNA, CRNA
Hicks Todd headshotDr. Todd HicksAs Assistant Professor, Dr. Hicks teaches anesthesia pharmacology I and II, regional anesthesia, and anesthesia pathophysiology I. He joined the UAB School of Nursing faculty in 2012 and practices clinically at Baptist Health System in Montgomery, Alabama,. His research interests include emergent treatment of amniotic fluid emboli, multimodal analgesia and regional anesthesia, and trauma anesthesia. Prior to becoming a nurse anesthetist, Dr. Hicks was a high school teacher and later became an intensive care nurse. He earned his BS in Education and BSN degrees from Auburn University, and his MNA and DNP degrees were earned from UAB. He is an active member of the Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists and served on the organization’s Board of Directors from 2012-2014. Dr. Hicks received the 2016 Award for Outstanding Innovation in Simulation Education by the UAB School of Nursing.

Wilbanks Bryan headshotDr. Bryan WilbanksBryan Wilbanks, DNP, CRNA
Hailing from Huntsville, Alabama, Dr. Bryan Wilbanks joined the UAB School of Nursing faculty in August 2016. His current research in applied clinical informatics in the perioperative setting focuses on improving the usability of information technology interfaces to improve documentation quality and prevent unintended consequences. As an Assistant Professor, Dr. Wilbanks currently teaches pathophysiology II, scholarly writing, and informatics. He earned his BSN from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and his MSN from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Both his DNP and PhD degrees were earned from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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