Page 24 - Senior Link Magazine Spring 2025 - Online Magazine

Office, the juvenile division of the Lubbock Police
Department, CPS workers, the Children’s Advocacy
Center—there’s all these people that work together. One
minute, I’m talking to a neurosurgeon; the next, I’m talking
to an investigator for the DHS office in Clovis; and the
next, I’m working with a social worker or maybe talking to
an ophthalmologist. A lot of what I do is just translation—
the police have their own language; doctors have their
own language, so I do a lot of coordinating between them,
making sure everyone knows what these children need.”
When she returned to Lubbock, Dr. Patterson was able
to help LCU students in many of the ways that she
herself was encouraged to grow during her own time on
campus. She has worked directly with mentoring pre-med
students in conjunction with LCU’s Office of Pre-Health
Professions. “I get to pour into these students the same
way I was poured into when I was there—it’s an honor,”
she said simply.
Dr. Patterson has maintained a close relationship with
LCU throughout her career. She was recognized with
the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 and again
in 2016 with the Gary and Pat Estep Award, given for
When Dr. Patterson worked in the state health department outstanding contribution to the sciences. In 2001, she was
she noted her favorite program implemented was newborn appointed to the LCU Board of Trustees, where she has
screenings. Recent graduate Presley Pharies ('23) was diagnosed served in several roles, including Chair and Vice Chair of
with PKU during her newborn screening, and, with adjustments,
has a healthy and normal life. She graduated with a BA in the Academic Affairs Committee and as a member of the
Psychology and is currently in graduate school for social work. Board Executive Committee.

She also has been heavily involved in the LCU student
much of it was also aimed at helping pay for the expensive medical mission trips to Peru as a founder of Olive Branch
procedures and medications that many of the children Ministries International, which has long partnered with
they diagnose need. “Public health is often doing little LCU’s B. Ward Lane College of Professional Studies to
things that make a huge impact,” she said. help send pre-health profession students overseas on
various medical mission trips.
After twelve years, Dr. Patterson decided to return to West
Texas at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Dr. Patterson retired from her work at TTUHSC in the fall
(TTUHSC) to help head their rural health programs. She of 2023, which provides an opportunity for her to return to
quickly transitioned back, however, into the area of her LCU in a different capacity, where she will teach an upper-
true passion—pediatrics. “After coming here to TTUHSC, level special topics course in the LCU Mabee Honors
my work was really influenced by the Adverse Childhood College on child abuse.
Experiences literature,” she explained. “I was doing
general pediatrics—clinics and so forth—but we really Dr. Patterson has maintained strong ties with LCU in
needed to have someone do the child abuse work. It’s now a myriad of ways, including multiple partnerships on
an official subspecialty of pediatrics, so I was able to get medical mission trips to Peru. Regarding her class on child
board certified in child abuse pediatrics.” abuse, “It’s very different from what I’ve taught medical
students and residents and faculty,” she explained. “It will
For the next fifteen years, Dr. Patterson worked as a child dip into the social work side of things, but we’re going
abuse specialist, often the lone person with that specialty to focus a lot on long-term consequences and adverse
on staff at TTUHSC—but that work brought her more fully childhood experiences literature. The trauma that these
into a network of others across the South Plains. kids experience is something that affects them throughout
their lives, and teachers need to know about it; ministers
When Dr. Patterson returned to West Texas, she was need to know about it—it’s a class that a lot of different
quickly recognized as an expert in child abuse cases. areas could use.”
“There’s such a team of people with passion for these
kids,” she explained. “There’s the District Attorney’s

24 Lubbock Senior Link