Community Corner
MGH Institute of Health Professions in Charlestown Begins Academic Year
Students are in nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, rehab sciences, and other health disciplines
Each of the approximately 250 new direct-entry students who begin classes at MGH Institute of Health Professions on September 8 has a particular reason for pursuing a new career in health care.
Take JB Sweeney (far right in photo with Clinical Assistant Professor Gail Gall, center, and fellow student Kelly Evans). She previously was a successful medical technical writer for a local pharmaceutical company. But several years ago, she was moved by the care her mother received during cancer treatments.
“When my mom passed away, it made me reevaluate what I wanted to do in my life,” said Sweeney, who joins more than 90 other students in the three-year Master of Science in Nursing program who upon graduation will become a nurse practitioner, “and I decided to follow my dream and help people by becoming a nurse.”
Other new students who are beginning their studies today on the Charlestown Navy Yard campus include those in the direct-entry Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program, and the post-professional Master of Science in Health Professions Education, Master of Science in Physical Therapy (for international students), Doctor of Nursing Practice, Master of Science in Nursing, and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences programs.
The school’s other direct-entry programs – Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and the first cohort in New England’s first Doctor of Occupational Therapy – began classes earlier this summer.
Along with more than 200 people enrolled in one of several certificate programs, online Prerequisites for the Health Professions and Graduate-Level Non-Degree courses, plus returning students to its Charlestown Navy Yard campus, close to 1,400 students begin the 2014-2015 academic year at the Boston health sciences graduate school.
“There continues to be a tremendous demand for new health care professionals in the coming years, and the MGH Institute is uniquely positioned to help meet that need,” noted President Janis P. Bellack, PhD, RN, FAAN.
President Bellack cited the pending retirement of much of the country’s health care workforce, the aging of the Baby Boom generation, and ongoing changes from the impending implementation of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for the MGH Institute’s growth.
Several of the Institute’s programs are highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report:
- The entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy is ranked 1st in New England, and is tied for 7th in the country:
- The entry-level Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology is ranked 2nd in New England, and is 25th in the country; and
- The direct-entry Master of Science in Nursing is ranked 3rd in Greater Boston, 4th in New England, and is in the top 10% in the country.
In addition, the Insititute is the only college in Greater Boston named to the Honor Roll in the 2014 Great Colleges to Work For survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education.