About Us
Learn more about the College’s mission and leadership.
Letter from the Chairwoman
Hello awesome ACCWS members! I can’t believe it’s’ been a year since my last annual letter.
2020 brought us the COVID 19 pandemic and unprecedented life changes across the globe. For the College it meant changing the way we traditionally offered our Live Symposium. Ultimately the Board decided to offer a Virtual Symposium. If you were a part of it you know how exciting it was that our international members from Romania, Mexico, Puerto Rico and others were able to join the Symposium for the first time!! We held our annual members meeting virtually in November. Now we are planning the 2021 virtual Symposium- you may have seen the Save the Dates. We sent a member survey out last fall to ask what you most valued in your wound organization. Based on your feedback, the Board has been busy pushing forward and creating new value added programs. Quarterly Round Table discussions via Zoom chat, Quarterly Newsletters featuring postings from you, our members are just 2 of the programs we are pleased to bring you. Our Facebook private group for members has been revamped this year. Be sure and check it out.
As we walk through 2021 together, I anticipate even more member participation and feedback. Thank you for joining our College, there are many wound care organizations out there. We are honored that you chose us!
Best,
Karen Brown BSN, RN, CWS, FACCWS
Chairwoman Board of Directors ACCWS
Our Board of Directors
Karen Brown, BSN, RN, FACCWS
Chairwoman
A M E D I S Y S
Karen Brown holds a BS degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. She has over 30 years of nursing experience, with 16 years spent in burn and trauma care and 3 years in enterostomal therapy at Miami Valley Hospital Level I Trauma Center in Dayton, Ohio. In 2008 she shifted her focus to developing a comprehensive wound and ostomy care program in the home care arena, where she served as a Wound Care Program Manager at Kettering Network Home Care until 2014. She started Karen Brown Wound Consulting, LLC in 2015 serving part-time in the Home Care and Hospice arena. In 2017, she joined Sinclair Community College’s Adjunct Faculty as an Allied Health Clinical Instructor, Dayton, Ohio.
In addition to clinical practice Karen has provided consultation services for research and development companies. Karen is a member of the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Wound Specialists (FACCWS). She became a Board-Certified Wound Specialist (CWS) in 2009. She served as Regional Director facilitating quarterly ACCWS College meetings from 2009 to 2017. She was part of the team that coordinated “The Annual ACCWS Advancing the Standards of Wound Care Symposiums” 2015-present. She has served on the ACCWS Board since January 2017 and is currently serving as Chairwoman of the Board.
Karen has several posters and a publication to her credit and was awarded the Nursing Excellence in Performance Improvement at Miami Valley Hospital in 2002 and ACCWS Award for developing collaborat
Kimberly Smith, BSN, RN, COWN, FACCWS
Norman McCulloch, MD, MBA, UHM, CWSP, FACCWS
Christopher Winters, DPM, CWS, FACCWS
Immediate Past Chair
A M E R I C A N H E A L T H N E TWO R K
Christopher L. Winters, DPM, CWS-P has been involved in wound care since beginning his practice of podiatry in 1999 in Indianapolis. A graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington he majored in Spanish and chemistry. He then graduated from the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago. He then completed a residency in podiatric medicine and surgery at Jesse Brown VA medical center in Chicago.
He is a partner in the group American Health Network based in Indianapolis, IN. He has worked at the wound center at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis since 2005. He has authored several articles and research projects on wound care with an interest in wound matrices. He has lectured locally, nationally and internationally in the field of wound care.
He has been active in teaching since 2006 and has served as the residency director of the podiatric medicine and surgery residency at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis since 2010. He became the Chairman of the Board of the ACCWS in 2018., and is currently serving on the board as the immediate past chair
Christine Miller, DPM, DMM, PhD, FACCWS
Chair Elect
U N I V E R S I T Y O F F L O R I D A C O L L E G E O F M E D I C I N E
Christine Miller DPM, PhD is a certified wound specialist by the American Board of Wound Management and is the Chair Elect of the Board of Directors for the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists. She currently serves as both the Co-Director of the Limb Salvage Program and Medical Director of the Orthopaedic Ambulatory Care Center Clinic at the University of Florida, College of Medicine-Jacksonville. The research aspect of wound healing is of great interest, and she participates in clinical trials.
Dr. Miller completed a Post-Doctoral Clinical Fellowship in Patient Safety and is a Coaching Fellow for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in the Leadership and Organizing for Change program. She formerly served as Chair of the Medicine Department at Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine and taught lower extremity radiology.
Jean Archer-Collela, DPM, FACPM, FAACWS, AASPS, FAPWHc, CWS
Media Chair, Board Member
UR Medicine | Noyes Health
Jean Archer-Colella DPM is a Board-Certified Podiatrist and has been practicing Podiatric Medicine, Foot Surgery, and Wound Care for over a decade in New York.
She currently practices at Noyes Hospital/the University of Rochester Medicine in Dansville, NY. She provides this care to her patients in both outpatient, inpatient, and emergency room settings. Prior to this, she practiced at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and North well Health care system in Queens, NY as a Podiatry Attending, active in the residency program training program.
She is Board Certified by the American College of Podiatric Medicine and the American Board of Wound Management. She is a Fellow of the American College of Podiatric Medicine and the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists. She serves as a board member of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists and an Associate of the American Society of Podiatric Surgeons.
She currently participates in research projects and has authored several papers.
Richard Simman, MD, FACS, FACCWS
Education Chair, Founding Fellow
WR I G H T S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y
Dr. Simman is the founding president and chair of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery, past president of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists (ACCWS), past editor in chief of the journal of the college and sits on the editorial review board of the Annals of Plastic Surgery. President and Founding Chair of Simman Wound Care and Fellowships.org. He is clinical Professor at the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Dermatology at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, CoDirector of the Wound Care Program at Jobst Vascular Institute/ProMedica Health System, Toledo, Ohio.
His background includes training in General Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University in New York, NY and a Plastic Surgery residency at Providence Hospital and Medical Centers in Southfield, Michigan. In addition, he completed a Burn Fellowship followed by a Wound Healing and cultured keratinocytes Research Fellowship at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, letters and book
chapters.
Kelly McFee, DNP, FNP-C, FACCWS
Secretary
MOSIAC LIFE CARE
Kelly McFee, DNP is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Wound Specialist and Advanced Practice Certified Wound Care Nurse who has been practicing Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine in Northwest Missouri. She received a BSN from Missouri Western State University, MSN from the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and DNP from the University of South Alabama.
Kelly serves as the Director of Wound Care for Mosaic Life Care and practices wound care both in the acute care and outpatient settings. She is an active member of the American Professional Wound Care Association, Association of Advancement of Wound Care, and is currently a part of the PDSI task force for the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel. She is a board member of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists and currently services the college as secretary.
Kelly has presented several posters at national conferences and has lectured at various conferences and webinars. She also serves as a reviewer for multiple scientific journals.
Barry Creighton, DPM, CWS, FACCWS
Membership Chair
Barry has over 19 years in business planning, strategy, marketing, sales, IT management, R&D, executive management, hospital / wound care operations, medical education, and podiatry practice. He has held positions in private practice, hospital-based wound care center administration, international medical device startup, established international medical device company, and the
ACCWS BOD previously. He understands the flow of patient care and business needs from the patient, to the physician/ medical profession, to the medical facility, to the DME, to all aspects of medical device company administration.
His areas of expertise include first and foremost creative idea generation and utilization, and also wound care, executive management, operations, financial reporting, business planning, distribution, marketing, sales, and IT management. Also, his wife is the clinical coordinator for a wound care center located Texas. Barry is fluent in English and Spanish.
Barry has a proven track record of developing and implementing successful products. He is experienced creating software solutions for process standardization, increased efficiency, and improved patient care. Barry is considered by his colleagues as “someone with high moral standards in both his personal and professional life.” “He continually took on the most challenging tasks in developing new products and growing a new, struggling business into a successful enterprise doing business worldwide.” “He is never above being available to help employees succeed at their positions with helpful, constructive guidance.”
Naz Wahab, MD, FAAFB, FAPWCA, FACCWS
Board Member
WO U N D C A R E E X P E R T S
Naz Wahab MD is a Board-Certified Family Practitioner and a Fellow of the American Professional Wound Care Association who has been practicing Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine for over 10 years in the Las Vegas Valley.
Dr. Wahab solely practices wound care and hyperbaric medicine across the spectrum of clinical practice and research in wound healing. She is an active member of American Professional Wound Care Association, Association of Advancement of Wound Care, and European Wound Management Association. She is a board member of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists. Dr. Wahab is the outpatient Medical Director of the Mountain view Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center as well as the Inpatient Medical Director for Dignity Hospitals in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Her educational and research mission has also led to publications in wound care research. She has traveled throughout the world educating herself and others on wound healing techniques, strategies, and technologies. Some of her teaching experience includes being a guest speaker at the Gulf Diabetic Foot Conference in Muscat, Oman and part of The UCSD School of Medicine’s speakers’ bureau for the Geriatrics Interprofessional Symposium on wound care. More recently she has gone to Haiti to help develop a wound care program for Hope for Haiti’s Diabetic Centers. She is currently the Director of Clinical Research and Adjunct Associate Professor of Specialty Medicine and develops wound care educational programs for continuing education for physicians and other allied health professionals
General Mission of the College
Educational Mission of the College
FAQ’s
Do I need to be a member to take a course?
No. However, members receive a discounted rate.
What are the steps I need to take or how do I become eligible to become qualified to join the College?
First, obtain certification in one of the Certifying Agencies recognized by the College. Next, Click Here and follow the directions.
What can The American College of Clinical Wound Specialists offer me?
The College is uniquely positioned to provide networking and collaboration with fellow certified practitioners AND provide both the resources and access to quality scientifically-based education for those that are seeking to become certified or advance as a Fellow of the College.
What can the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists do for me as a wound care practitioner?
The College is a unifying body of interdisciplinary wound care practitioners, seeking to provide their patients with the most relevant and current wound care. As a member of the College, you will have access to and be able to network with fellow providers both in your discipline and across disciplines. The College will notify you of cutting-edge educational presentations available in your region. Having a voice in the leadership of the College, an opportunity to serve on committees or task forces will help shape the future of wound care and the College.
What can the College do for me as a Fellow of the College of Clinical Wound Specialists® (FACCWS)?
The presence of the College of Clinical Wound Specialists® is a collaborative of those certified in wound care by recognized and accredited programs, including the CWS® designation. The College serves to maintain the validity of specialty certification and to empower the professionals who have attained this level of education. By uniting as Fellows, the College will enhance our ability to work to increase provider relations, educate the public, and lobby Congress/CMS to recognize the designations of wound care specialist. CWS®, WCC®, ABWMS®, CWCA®, CWSP®, WCC®, CWOCN®, CWCN®, CWON®, CWOCN-AP®, CWCN-AP®, CWON-AP® are desirable credentials when considering rendering payment for the care of patients with wounds. Additionally, the College, by virtue of truly being multi-disciplinary, bridges many of the wound care societies, organizations and industry providers as an advocacy arm. Together we can accomplish changes in wound care practice, policy and payment.
Does the College publish a Journal?
The College no longer publishes a journal. The archived journal can be found at http://jaccws.org.
Services
What We Can Do For You
Check out what we’re up to at Wound Industry News! A members-only repository that details new advancements, events, and anything else noteworthy in Wound care!