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Vanessa Hall Brown
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Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions
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ATLANTA–Georgia State University has received University System of Georgia Board of Regents approval to offer a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Health Sciences degree.
The new degree program, which is the first of its kind in the state of Georgia, will educate future health researchers and educators, with concentrations in cardiopulmonary care, nutrition, occupational therapy and translational rehabilitation science. The new doctoral students are critical to reducing the shortage of health care professionals
“It is important to increase the quality and number of healthcare educators in order to produce more desperately needed health care professionals,” said Huanbiao Mo, dean of the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions.
Many colleges and universities in Georgia and the United States have difficulty recruiting faculty with both clinical degrees and experience and a terminal doctorate. The new Ph.D. in Health Sciences, offered by the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, will address that worker shortage and will also be key in promoting interdisciplinary research and education.
“The Ph.D. in health sciences capitalizes on the growing faculty expertise in our college and directly supports our mission to prepare the next generation of clinicians and scholars to impact health in a culturally diverse society positively,” said Dr. Mo.
The Lewis College offers three clinical doctorates in nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy but only one Ph.D. in nursing. For students in non-nursing programs, the college partners with other Georgia State programs to offer a Ph.D. via concentrations in chemistry and kinesiology.
“The health science Ph.D. has been a vision of the Lewis College for more than 15 years, and we are happy to now offer it to our graduate students,” said Lynda Goodfellow, senior associate dean for academics. “Kudos to Dr. Yu-Ping Chen and the faculty committee that shepherded this proposal through the university and Board of Regent channels.”
Since 1968, the college has produced more than 7,000 nurses and nurse practitioners and more than 5,500 allied healthcare professionals. Many of these professionals are employed in hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities throughout Georgia and around the U.S.
For more information, visit the Lewis College website for updates on the application process.