Dr. Holly Jeffreys is the dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at West Texas A&M University.
Jeffreys has worked both in the classroom and out in the nursing field, and she utilizes that experience to pour back into the students of the college.
“I was working in family practice and seeing lots of patients every day,” Jeffreys said. “Trying to keep up with the latest and greatest advancements [in medicine] is really difficult. I knew that if I was teaching things that I knew and was practicing that it would reinforce it even more. Plus, if you’re teaching, you have to know the latest and greatest.”
Jeffreys knew she would follow a career path in healthcare, but did not always know it would be at WT.
“I knew I wanted to be a nurse,” Jeffreys said. “And I grew up in this area, so I was going to go to Amarillo College, but I applied to WT as well. WT was big, and I didn’t think I could afford it. But then I got into WT, and it was such a blessing. It was the best decision I could have ever made. I went on to get my bachelor’s and master’s here at WT in nursing. Then I went to the University of Texas and finished my doctorate.”
Jeffreys has worked outside the classroom, but WT has a way of calling buffs back.
“I was practicing here in town,” Jeffreys said. “They knew I was here, and they called me and said, ‘We want you to be a part of this.’ I had never really thought about teaching before that, although I was at a point where I had been practicing for a bit and struggling to keep up on new stuff. You work long weekdays and then you don’t want to spend your weekends reading and studying the latest journals. If it’s part of your practice and now you’re teaching it, you have to. So it holds you accountable.”
Though Jeffreys does not currently teach any courses, she has a couple she has enjoyed in the past.
“I am not teaching a course right now,” Jeffreys said. “I kind of help everywhere. I fill in if somebody’s out, and I teach what everybody else doesn’t want to. But one of my favorites is Pharmacology. It’s kind of one of the more challenging courses. There are so many new drugs that come out every day, and they have so many implications, so I like teaching about that.”
Jeffreys describes her teaching style as story-heavy.
“I tell lots of stories,” Jeffreys said. “I get the concepts across, but if I have a concept and someone tells me a story, I’ll remember it. So I use that in my teaching, no matter what the topic is.”
Jeffreys wished to highlight a new program that has started for students of WT this semester.
“We have a program we started that’s called Buff Cares.” Jeffreys said.”It stands for Collegiate Addiction Recovery, Education and Support. And what that is, for any college students who are in recovery from any type of addiction. We support them through their education. School can be stressful, and we want to make sure that stress doesn’t trigger any reoccurrences. Just go to the WT website and search Buff Cares for more information.”
Jeffreys had this to say for students considering the program.
“Our college is so service-oriented,” Jeffreys said. “Every degree we have in our college leads to serving in some capacity. So if you like serving and helping people, it is so rewarding.”
