Faculty Member: Ron Rossetti, Allied Health Instructor in Anatomy & Physiology, and Pharmacology
Ron became an Instructor at the Salter School back in August of 2002. He had taken a semi-retirement from the UMass Medical School and was looking to other endeavors.
Having grown up in the old school neighborhood of Ararat Street, he was curious about what was going on at the former Salter Secretarial School. Through a colleague, he was asked to fill in as an Instructor for the Medical Assisting program and has been with the school ever since.
What first captured Ron’s interest in 2002 was the unique diversity of Salter students; the young with the old, the professional with the laborer, the singled mom with the traditional housewife. It was certainly a different audience than he was used to at UMass Medical School.
What Ron likes most about Salter Students is the challenge he sees in them, and how his efforts affect real change in their lives. He is not only teaching them a curriculum, but for many he is teaching them lessons in life. He is teaching them how to achieve.
Ron also served as the first Salter Faculty Council President, and addressed the students at the Salter graduation ceremony in June of 2005 with this message, “Today is not an end, but a beginning.”
Ron is excited to be a member of the new Salter College Faculty. He believes the college will encourage the students to further their career goals through the pursuit of higher education.
Ron’s Goal: to eventually employ Salter graduates at the future Healing Centers of Central Massachusetts!
Education: B.S. Psychology, University of Massachusetts
Master of Public Health, University of Massachusetts
Professional Background:
Faculty Member at Salter College, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester State College and Clark University.
Research Associate at University of Massachusetts Medical School
Published Author in medical research and peer review journals
Recent Accomplishments:
- Research collaborative with Dr. Lacava, pediatrician, from the Francis Holistic Medical Center of West Boylston on the environmental risk factors associated with behavioral disorders in children.
- Smoke cessation study collaboration with the Francis Holistic Medical Center and the Salter Massage Therapy program faculty. A study was conducted on campus using three groups of students that were going through the process of quitting smoking. The students were randomly assigned to three groups. Group I was given nicotine patches only. Group 2 was given daily targeted massage therapy only and Group 3 was given both nicotine patches and daily targeted massage.
The study showed that the students treated with complimentary therapies (lymphatic drainage massage, and pressure point therapy) had a much higher success rate of quitting than the control group which had no supporting therapy other than wearing nicotine patches.
Ron recently presented his abstract paper in November at the American Academy of Environmental Medicine in California.
- Cofounder of Weere, Worcester Environmental Education & Research Effort. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of research and education to develop, clarify, and define the understanding of environmental medical conditions.
- Currently developing a model for a non-profit organization called, “The Healing Centers of Central Massachusetts. The purpose of these Centers is to offer access to alternative, holistic therapies such as environmental detoxification to people of less fortune. Babson College business students are in the process of developing a business plan.
