Page 20 - WesternU View Summer 2019

New Dean Kathleen Satterfield

takes helm at CRITICAL TIME for

WesternU’s College of Podiatric Medicine

By Rodney Tanaka
Western University of Health Sciences’ College

of Podiatric Medicine is trying something

unprecedented in podiatric medicine – having
its students sit for the same licensing exam as

osteopathic (DO) and allopathic (MD) students.

To provide stability during this critical juncture, WesternU
has tapped CPM Associate Dean V. Kathleen Satterfield,
DPM, FACFAOM, MAPWCA, as the College’s new dean,
effective May 1, 2019.
“Dr. Satterfield has been an integral part of the College of
Podiatric Medicine from its early days. She is uniquely
qualified to lead the College as a seasoned academic
podiatric physician and surgeon,” said Daniel R. Wilson,
MD, PhD, President of Western University of Health
Sciences. “She will ensure that the high standards of
performance and accomplishment set by the College over
the past decade will continue to be met, indeed,
surpassed, even as our students enter a new era for
podiatry at WesternU and beyond.”
Satterfield has worked at WesternU since September
2010 and provides leadership continuity as she
succeeds Founding Dean Lawrence Harkless, DPM,
who retired in June 2017, and Executive Associate
Dean Lester J. Jones, DPM, MSEd, who served as
interim dean and retired at the end of April.

“Our college is going through some growing pains,”
Satterfield said. “I was afraid if I stopped now maybe
somebody with a different goal would come in. We’re
trying something very ambitious here in California and
that is a change in our license, in a way.”
Satterfield had planned to retire before being asked to
consider becoming a candidate for dean.

“Dr. Satterfield brings a wealth of academic and personal
experience to the position of dean. She was one of the
founders of our pioneering curriculum, integrating

18 | WESTERNU VIEW Summer/Fall 2019