She began her tenure at SIU as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral & Social Sciences with a cross appointment in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at SIU in 1988. She was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 1994, moving to the Department of Family & Community Medicine in the SIU School of Medicine in 1999. She is also currently the Year One Curriculum Director at the SIU School of Medicine, a title which she has held since 2003.