Elisha Madsen, MME, MT-BC (NICU-MT)

Leanne Wade, Ph.D., MT-BC

Elisha Madsen received her Master’s degree in Music Therapy from the University of Kansas prior to working five years as a Board Certified Music Therapist in a medical prison. Elisha completed advanced training in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Music Therapy and now holds the credential NICU-MT. She is currently the Director of the Novack Family Music Therapy Program at the California Pacific Medical Center, Women and Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, where she is creating and growing the hospital’s first Music Therapy program. Elisha’s professional interests include neurologic music therapy, clinical research, and collaboration among evidence-based disciplines to promote a standard of best practice care.

Leanne Wade is a Board Certified Music Therapist who works with patients and families to meet healthcare goals.  She holds designations as both a Neurologic Music Therapist (NMT) and a NICU-MT.  Currently, she is employed by Mercy San Juan Medical Center as the Music Therapy Program Coordinator.  Leanne uses the latest music therapy techniques and evidence-based research to assist patients during their hospital stay.  During her twenty-one year career, Leanne has worked with a variety of populations from birth to death.  Leanne holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy from the University of Kansas.





Eden Medical Center

20103 Lake Chabot Rd.

Castro Valley, CA 94566

3 CE's to be Offered 

8:30 am - 11:45 am

Free with paid membership

Continental breakfast will be provided 

 

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center - Van Dyke Theater 

2801 Atlantic Ave.

Long Beach, CA. 90806



Jennifer Raminick, CCC-SLP, BCS-S  completed her master’s degree at California State University, Long Beach and recently earned her Board Certified Specialist certification in Swallowing.  She has been a speech pathologist at CHOC Children’s Hospital since 2013 where she assesses and treats feeding/swallowing disorders in medically fragile infants and children.  Jennifer serves multiple leadership roles in the hospital, including a Clinical Practice Committee member to guide patient care and mentors graduate students and fellow therapists, with an emphasis on MBSS competency.  At CHOC, she revised MBSS procedures to align with evidence based best practice and lead a committee to implement the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative at CHOC Children’s.  She is a national and regional speaker, presenting regularly at the California and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s annual conventions covering topics such as congenital laryngomalacia, and aspiration and the pediatric lung, and feeding on High Flow Nasal Cannula.  Jennifer has also spoken as a pediatric dysphagia specialist to graduate and undergraduate students at CSULB. 

 

Hema Desai, MS-CCC-SLP, BCS-S is an inpatient speech pathologist at CHOC Children’s Hospital, treating children with feeding/swallowing disorders in an acute care setting and on the Multidisciplinary Intensive Feeding Team since 2006. She provides education to hospital staff regarding feeding/swallowing concerns in children and mentors graduate students and new staff.  Hema also provides annual guest lectures regarding pediatric feeding/swallowing at Chapman University and has presented lectures about pediatric feeding/swallowing disorders at state and national conventions. 

Course Description:

With medical care and technology advancement, there are higher survival rates of premature infants and infants born with complex medical conditions leading to increased prevalence in pediatric dysphagia. Additionally, dysphagia can also be acquired later in childhood, as in traumatic brain injuries.  Children with dysphagia are at high risk for nutritional deficits, which can impair their cognitive and physical development.  Working with medically fragile infants and children with dysphagia is challenging, as each child's presentation is individual. It is important to be able to identify and understand the underlying factors of dysphagia and use treatment strategies appropriately to ensure safety for oral feeding and reduce detrimental effects of the swallowing disorder.

This course will discuss etiology of swallow deficits in medically fragile infants and children.  Evidenced-based treatment options will discussed to guide best practice with this population.  Additionally, this course will give realistic options to implement evidence-based treatments to improve dysphagia and sensory-motor function to support efficient swallow function.  

Objectives:

1.) Discuss the etiology of dysphagia associated with common diagnosis in the medically fragile infant and pediatric population

2.) Understand the evidence for treatment strategies for dysphagia in the infant and pediatric population

3.) Identify realistic treatment strategies to manage pediatric dysphagia

Instruction Level:  Intermediate

Half day conference - free with membership    8:30 - 11:45 am - 3 CE's

Continental Breakfast provided