Arcadia University has announced that Diana T. Noller, assistant professor and associate director of the Physician Assistant program at Arcadia’s Christiana campus in Delaware, will serve as the new chair of the Department of Medical Science and Community Health. Noller’s appointment was effective July 1. She succeeds Dr. Michael Dryer, who leaves after 19 years of leading the department.
A resident of Marlton, Noller joined Arcadia in 2009, serving as clinical coordinator and academic coordinator of the Physician Assistant program. Prior to entering higher education, Noller joined the field of health care as a physical therapist and worked at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Noller worked as a physician assistant at Reconstructive Orthopedics in southern New Jersey for nine years. In 2013, she served as a content expert in the field of orthopedic surgery for the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants Certificates of Added Qualifications Standard Setting Committee.
In 2014, after completing a two-year research project on how revisions to surgery curriculum impact student perception of preparedness for surgical rotations, Noller presented her findings at the American Academy of Physician Assistants and Physician Assistant Education Association national conferences. She also presented on the evaluation and management of low back pain at the 2014 and 2015 national conferences of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. In addition, she has presented on new methods of pedagogy at the Physician Assistant Education Association conference. Noller’s article on disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, a childhood condition characterized by frequent and severe outbursts of anger, was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. She also has coauthored articles for the same journal on knee pain and childhood obesity.
Noller graduated summa cum laude from Thomas Jefferson University with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy after earning a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from The College of New Jersey. She went on to graduate from Arcadia University’s Physician Assistant program with distinction in 2005. Noller is pursuing a Doctor of Health Science at A.T. Still University.