Meet the TCOM FDC team

Sharon Manson, EdD

FDC Director

Sharon Manson is responsible for coordinating the educational activities of the Center, conference planning and promotion, and helping develop the curriculum for GCAM.

As a former Director of Housing Sharon brings a wealth of experience from a career in Student Affairs, mostly working with first-year students in on-campus housing.  She has over fifteen years of teaching leadership, professionalism, supervision, time management, crisis intervention, counseling/feedback, and other skills to students and staff, and has led local, state and regional training workshops and conferences with audiences of 5 to 250. Working with undergraduates, graduates, and professional staff, Sharon has seen many similarities in the challenges we face in education and training.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, Master of Arts in Student Personnel Services, and her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, and is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM).

Elizabeth Burleson, EdD

Education Program Manager

Elizabeth Burleson is an Educational Program Manager for TCOM FDC.  She received a B.S. in Early Childhood & Elementary Education as well as Master of Education in Educational Leadership.  She also received her Doctor of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Wesleyan University in 2018.  Elizabeth spent twenty years in public education, with the majority of her career teaching early elementary and special education prior to joining the FDC team.  She believes every student, regardless of age, is unique and must have a stimulating learning environment in which they can grow.  In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, her people, and her pets.  She also enjoys being outdoors, gardening, reading books, and trying new recipes out on her daughter.

Joshua B. Utay, Ed.D., CPO

Educational Program Manager

Joshua B. Utay is an Educational Program Manager for TCOM FDC. He began his clinical career as an orthotist / prosthetist in 1999 in both pediatric and adult practice settings. Josh became the founding Associate Program Director for Didactic Education of the Orthotics and Prosthetics Program at Baylor College of Medicine in 2012 where he also taught courses in Health Behavioral Counseling, Pathophysiology, and Medical Ethics. Research interests included residency entrustment trends, applying the science of team training teams in the academic medical sector, psychological adjustment to amputation, and prevalence of depression among students in the era of Covid-19.

Inspired to explore the basis for successful training of clinical educators, Josh completed a Doctor of Education in Health Science Education and Leadership from the University of Houston in 2022. He now has the privilege to assist thoughtful healthcare providers in becoming successful educators, too. In addition to participating in national and international professional associations, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Netanya, their rescue dog Cleo, and in the home woodworking workshop.

Melanie O’Donnell

Administrative Coordinator