On Friday, December 11, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will graduate 162 health care professionals.
The winter commencement ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Ballroom of the Memphis Cook Convention Center. UTHSC Chancellor Steve J. Schwab, MD, will preside over the ceremony, give the charge to the graduates and confer the degrees.
Among the graduates will be the 25 members of the inaugural class of the Physician Assistant Studies program in the College of Health Professions. The program began in January 2014, and is the only one at a state school in Tennessee.
“Physician assistants are actually a fairly new introduction to West Tennessee,” said Matthew Allman, MPAS, PA-C, chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at UTHSC. “There are a total of six PA programs in the state, and the majority have been in eastern Tennessee. There are only 34 physician assistants practicing in Shelby County currently. So, we’re truly introducing a new health care provider to this area of Tennessee.”
The 162 graduates include:
- 4 from the College of Dentistry
- 17 from the College of Graduate Health Sciences
- 54 from the College of Health Professions
- 6 from the College of Medicine
- 81 from the College of Nursing
The graduating class includes 28 African-Americans, four Latino-Americans, and 47 graduates who came from out of state to study at UTHSC. In addition, this class comprises 125 women and 37 men.