It’s another year of firsts and breaking records for the colleges and programs at USF Health. Both Pharmacy and SELECT welcomed their second group of students, each more than last year’s charter classes. And both Nursing and Public Health added programs that broadened their reach to more students.
The buzz of the first day is on!
The following are some of this year’s statistics for USF’s Health incoming students.
College of Nursing
Several milestones welcomed students joining the USF College of Nursing this fall: The school admitted 190 students to its revolutionary new RN to BS program, the highest number ever admitted in a single semester; this summer marked the College reaching a total of 8,000 degrees it has granted at all levels since opening in 1975; and the College has created a first-of-its-kind Introduction to Military and Veteran Health course open to interdisciplinary students in Fall 2012.
New and returning students take a break in a College of Nursing gathering space.
As for the incoming group of students: there are 537 starting this fall, with 120 in its core bachelor’s degree program, 190 in the new RN to BS program, 180 in its master’s program, 30 in the nurse anesthesia program (based at USF Health’s highly innovative Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation), 5 in the PhD program, and 12 in the doctorate of nursing practice program.
New baccalaureate nursing students started classes with Go Bulls!
College of Pharmacy
USF Health’s youngest college welcomed its second cohort of students, which boasts 13 more students than in last year’s charter class to the USF College of Pharmacy. This year’s group of 66 includes 48 percent men and 52 percent women.
College of Public Health
The USF College of Public Health welcomed nearly 700 students this fall: 254 in its undergraduate program, 404 to its masters programs and 38 to its doctoral programs.
This record-breaking increase is attributed mostly to the College’s innovative online courses. This fall boasts 75 online courses (seven of which are new), with 33 graduate-level courses and 42 undergraduate-level courses. In addition, nine of the College’s 23 graduate certificates are completely online, and some master’s degree programs are all online.
The increased reach means that USF’s College of Public Health now has more than 3,700 students enrolled in its online courses.
College of Public Health students enjoy some fresh air between classes on their first day.
Morsani College of Medicine
USF’s medical school has once again admitted its highest number of students, with 164 future physicians. Helping to push that total up is the second group of the school’s SELECT MD program, a partnership program of the USF Morsani College of Medicine and Lehigh Valley Health Network. This year’s group includes 120 in USF’s core MD program and 44 in the SELECT MD program (last year’s SELECT charter class had 19 students). Of the total group, 57 percent are men and 43 percent are women.
First day also meant pizza for these medical students.
School of Biomedical Sciences
The Morsani College of Medicine PhD program is also breaking some records. The USF School of Biomedical Sciences attracted its highest number of applicants – having increased by 40 percent in the past two years – and the 20 new students joining this fall boast the School’s highest average GRE score. In addition, the School was able to secure partial or complete external (to the MCOM through USF Presidential, University Graduate and National Science Foundation fellowships) funding for nearly half of this year’s group, again a record high. The students represent all four regions of the U.S. (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West) and five countries outside the U.S.
School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences
The USF School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences welcomed its Class of 2015, 40 students, with 28 women and 12 men. Seventy percent are from within Florida, while 30 percent are from throughout the Southeast and Midwest.
The first day has to include a run to the USF Health Bookstore.
