Meet the Instructors

Brooke is the creator of The Modern MedSLP and also our primary instructor.
Brooke Richardson, MS, CCC-SLP is a Medical Speech-Language Pathologist in the United States. She's been treating adults with complex medical needs in the acute and outpatient settings since 2009. She has been instrumental in establishing Respiratory Muscle Training (RMT) programs in multiple hospitals and other healthcare settings, and has spoken internationally on RMT.  

Brooke values exceptional-quality continuing education for other MedSLPs, and seeks to improve our patient care by emphasizing the importance of understanding a patient's whole medical picture when evaluating and treating.  

When she's not teaching SLPs or seeing medically-complex patients, Brooke spends most of her time spending quality time with her husband and daughter, drinking coffee, and dreaming of her next vacation destination.

Learn from Brooke: in the majority of courses offered at The Modern MedSLP.
Deepika Malhotra BS, RRT is a respiratory therapist with 20 years of clinical experience. She has provided care in a variety of settings including critical care, general hospital floor care, pulmonary function testing (PFT), interventional pulmonology, and home care.    Most recently, Deepika has shared her expertise as a hospital-based Respiratory Educator.

Learn from Deepika: Mechanical Ventilation: Key Concepts for the SLP
Adnan Pervez, MD is a Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Specialist at UNC Rex Hospital. He practices in the outpatient and inpatient settings at Rex Hospital and is the Medical Director of the Rex Sleep Disorders Center. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at State University of New York at Buffalo, followed by fellowships in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Illinois and Sleep Medicine at University of Missouri before joining Rex Pulmonary Specialists.

Learn from Dr. Pervez: Pulmonology Essentials for the SLP (part of the Medical Essentials Specialty Track)
Dr. Matt DeBrine, PharmD is a member of the Critical Care and Neurology Pharmacy Teams at UNC Health Rex. Dr. DeBrine’s professional memberships include the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Neurocritical Care Society (NCS), and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). His practice interests include Critical Care, Neurology, Nephrology, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. Dr. DeBrine earned his Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration degrees from Campbell University in 2015. Dr. DeBrine is also Board Certified as a Pharmacotherapy Specialist.

Learn from Dr. DeBrine: A Hard Pill to Swallow: SLP Considerations for Medication Administration (part of the Medical Essentials Specialty Track)
Jenan Maaz, SLPD (she/her) is a Muslim, multiethnic, bilingual (English/Arabic) acute care speech pathologist at a level one trauma center in California. She earned her Doctor of Speech Language Pathology Candidate at Northwestern University (Class of 2023). Jenan completed her MS in Communicative Disorders from San Francisco State University and her BA in Communicative Disorders and Sciences from San José State University. She completed her Clinical Fellowship (CF) in a subacute skilled nursing facility and has experience in all medical settings- from acute care to home health. Jenan is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS), certified MBSImP provider, and FEES provider/endoscopist.

Learn from Jenan: Cultural Humility 101 for the SLP
Charles Lavigne, MD currently practices as a Neurohospitalist at UNC Rex Hospital. Dr. Lavigne completed his training in neurology at Harvard at the Mass General and Brigham program. He completed a fellowship in headache medicine.

Learn from Dr. LaVigne: Neuroanatomy & Cranial Nerves for the SLP (part of the Medical Essentials Specialty Track)
Katie Thompson, AGNP-C, RN, ACHPN has worked in acute care for 11 years.  She considers herself a nurse first, and as Nurse Practitioner found her calling in the medical speciality of Palliative Care. Her work centers the prevention and alleviation of suffering by focusing on quality of life.  

She thrives at the intersection of science and spirituality, medicine and ethics, autonomy and community. Prior to nursing, she served in AmeriCorps providing HIV/AIDS care and education.  

Katie is a leader, advocate, counselor, and perpetual learner. Her educational background reflects her range, from ADN at Wake Tech to MSN at Duke. Perhaps there’s a terminal degree ahead, but her husband hopes not.  

Learn from Katie:The Intersection of SLP & Palliative Care in Dysphagia Management
Beth Cormell, M.S., CCC-SLP is a practicing clinician who specializes in acute care medical Speech Language Pathology. She has been employed by UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, NC since 1995 and initiated the FEES program in 1997. She began teaching in 1998, and has been instrumental in training clinicians, and implementing new FEES programs throughout the country and internationally. She has taught FEES and medical Speech Pathology courses for more than 23 years and has presented short courses on FEES implementation at ASHA and NCSLHA. She has also taught webinars focusing on medical Speech Pathology and was featured on the Swallow Your Pride podcast, episode 118. She has been a Speech-Language Pathologist for over 29 years after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Learn from Beth: Lab Values for the MedSLP  (part of the Acute Care Specialty Track)

© 2024 The Modern MedSLP