Peds anesthesiologist, speech-language pathologists join UMMC faculty

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Joseph D. King, M.D.

Dr. Joseph D. King, a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Legacy Plano Facility of Children’s Health System of Texas, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of anesthesiology.

After receiving his B.A. in chemistry from the University of Virginia in 1994, King earned his M.D. at the Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 1998. He then had a transitional year of postgraduate training at the Crozer Chester Medical Center, Upland, Pennsylvania, in 1999 and completed an anesthesia residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, in 2002 and a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio, in 2003.

A pediatric anesthesiologist with 16 years of experience in Texas, King had been providing clinical care to patients at the Legacy Plano Facility since March 2016. He received his M.S. in health care management from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2017. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Medical Association and the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia.

Caroline McCormick, M.S.

Caroline McCormick, an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association-certified speech-language pathologist, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in otolaryngology.

McCormick received her B.S. in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Mississippi in 2014 and her M.S. in communicative disorders from Jackson State University in 2017. As a graduate clinician, she completed a 12-week clinical practicum in adult inpatient acute care at UMMC in 2016 before joining the staff as a pro re nata clinician. McCormick became full-time faculty in August 2018 and currently treats both pediatric and adult populations. Her clinical expertise includes the treatment of developmental speech and language impairments, cognitive-linguistic impairments associated with traumatic brain injury and complex dysphagia in the adult neurogenic population.

The coauthor of an article published in the Online Journal of Rural and Urban Research, “A Preventative Intervention Model for Preschool Children Who Are At Risk for Language and Literacy Difficulties,” McCormick received the Outstanding Graduate Clinician Award from the Mississippi Speech, Language and Hearing Association in 2017.

Leisa McCullough, M.S.

Leisa McCullough, lead speech-language pathologist at Select Specialty Hospital – Long-Term Acute Care in Jackson, has joined the Medical Center faculty full time as an instructor in the Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences.

After receiving her B.A. in psychology and her B.S. in speech-language pathology from the Mississippi University for Women in 2012, McCullough received her M.S. in communicative disorders in 2014 from Jackson State University. During her graduate studies she provided services as a graduate clinician to the Central Mississippi Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic in Jackson, Trace Pointe Adult Daycare Services and Baptist Adult Day Health Services in Jackson, Select Specialty Hospital in Jackson and Madison Crossing Elementary in Madison. She became lead speech-language pathologist at Select Specialty in December 2014 and received the 2016 Clinician of the Year Award. Additionally, she has provided services to the Jackson Public School District, Diane Morse and Associates and UMMC.

McCullough is a certified speech-language pathologist and a national member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.