From the Dean

This past year has been a banner year in many ways for the College of Health Professions. We are privileged every day to work with outstanding students who have come to train with our outstanding faculty, who are supported by our outstanding staff. However, our success is built on the backs of those who came before us and the alumni who continue to give back to our college, so that our college can train the next generation of health providers who are clinicians, educators, and scientists.

Our graduates have continued to achieve excellent first-time pass rates for licensure (from 93%-100%), and we are proud of each of our graduates and our alumni.

We were excited to launch in January our brand-new Pathologists’ Assistant Program in the Department of Diagnostic and Health Sciences. Under the direction of Michael Weitzel, this is one of only 12 such programs in the country.

Our college has made great strides in research funding, and for the first time, our college faculty have obtained more than $2.1 million in research grants and contracts. Some of our faculty have obtained national awards for their research efforts.

We opened after-hours study space for our students in the 930 Madison Building on the Memphis campus. Additionally, we have obtained new teaching space that is being renovated in the General Education Building for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Medical Laboratory Sciences programs. We expect that these programs will be moving into their new space before summer.

The Occupational Therapy Rachel Kay Stevens Clinic has obtained new expanded space in the 920 Madison Building. Finally, part of the faculty and staff in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology have moved into beautifully renovated Phase 1 space in the UT Conference Center building on the campus of UT Knoxville. Phase 2 is being planned with renovations on the first floor of this building to hopefully begin later this year. This will finish the new office, clinic, and classroom space and allow the remainder of the faculty and staff for the Audiology and Speech and Language Pathology programs to join their colleagues in this building.

In November, we celebrated our 50th year as a college. The Medical Laboratory Sciences program also celebrated its 100th year of instruction. At our anniversary event, we were honored to recognize some of our outstanding alumni who have contributed so much to their professions and communities. We will be making our Alumni Awards an annual event, with the next planned for November 10.

In February 2022, we welcomed our new chancellor, Peter Buckley, MD, to UTHSC. Dr. Buckley will be leading us into the next chapter in our outstanding institution.

We have accomplished much and are proud of our accomplishments and want to share those celebrations with you. However, there is much more work to do. We appreciate and value your support, as we work together to continue our strides forward. The College of Health Professions will continue to strive to recruit and train a wider and more diverse workforce of health care leaders, clinicians, and researchers, who are representative of our state’s population and who will allow us to better impact our communities, our state, and our world.

Be healthy and stay safe!

Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM Dean of the College of Health Professions