Jan Cate, B.S. in Behavior and Health Education, Nursing
Jan is a graduate student in Rehabilitation Counselor Education at the University of Tennessee, planning for a second career in the rehabilitation counseling field. She earned a B.S. in Behavior and Health Education (UT Martin). She previously earned a degree in nursing (Walter State - Alabama).
Her career spans 25 years in crisis response nursing services. As a trained specialist with the Tennessee Baptist/Baptist Medical Mission, Jan served with one of the first medical crisis intervention teams allowed to enter Beirut, Lebanon following the initial cease fire during the Lebanon-Israeli War. She assisted in the rescue and recovery of bombing victims and evaluation of casualties for triage, and conducted crisis plan management for survivors. She helped coordinate mental, medical, and governmental resources for survivors and dislocated residents.
Jan worked with TBC Disaster Relief on specialized teams to organize medical, social, and crisis intervention programs in Sri Lanka after to the 1995 tsunami. She accompanied first responder teams in Baton Rouge following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Jan studied public health and culture among villages and townships in South Africa, developing medical education resource programs for women and children. Closer to home in East Tennessee, she worked with over 40 foster children with disabilities as a therapeutic foster parent and serves as an advocate/volunteer for the East Tennessee Technology Access Center, Autism Research Program, Pet Therapy Program, Domestic Violence Prevention Program, and Elder Abuse Program.
She has 5 children and 11 grandchildren.
