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About

Message from the Dean

Photo of Stephen Alway

I am very pleased to welcome you to the College of Health Professions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Our college  is composed of the departments of Audiology and Speech Pathology, Diagnostic and Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy and the Division of Regenerative and Rehabilitation Sciences. Our campuses are located in Knoxville and Memphis. The College of Health Professions offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs taught by dedicated professors who take the time to provide personal advising and mentoring, so that students can achieve their career goals. Our college has a community of academic leaders who believe that interdisciplinary, diverse, and inclusive education and research are all critical to our success as professions in an ever changing society. We are excited about all of our programs, and I invite you to look at how you might develop your unique potential for growth to our college. Read More 

College Information

Mission
The mission of the College of Health Professions is consistent with the mission of the University of Tennessee: that is, to provide the people of Tennessee with access to quality higher education, economic development and enhanced quality-of-life opportunities. The mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to transform lives through collaborative and inclusive education, research/scholarship, clinical care, and public service. The College ​graduates outstanding health professionals ​who address the health care needs of the people of Tennessee, provide leadership in the respective health professions, contribute to ​evidence-based practice through cutting edge research, and promote healthy lifestyles and lifelong learning.
History

The College was founded as the College of Community and Allied Health Professions in 1972 and was later named the College of Allied Health Science. In 2014, the name changed to the College of Health Professions. 

The College serves as an administrative base for allied health programs from a variety of departments and institutions. Initial departments included clinical laboratory sciences (which included programs in medical technology, cytotechnology, histotechnology and blood banking), then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Pathology; dental hygiene, then in the College of Dentistry; medical record administration (now health informatics and information management), then a part of Baptist Memorial Hospital; physical therapy, then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Medicine; and radiologic technology, then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Radiology. Start-up funding for the College came from a Veterans Administration grant. The Departments of Occupational Therapy and Audiology and Speech Pathology (located on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus) were later added. The blood banking program was discontinued, and the Department of Radiologic Technology and the histotechnology program were transferred to Southwest Tennessee Community College. The Physician Assistant studies program was added in 2012, but moved to the College of Medicine in 2016.

The College has made a commitment towards a new direction and a renewed purpose to train students and to impact our community, state and nation. After a year of discussion and committee review, the College’s faculty voted overwhelmingly Sept 14. 2018, to adopt the new Strategic Plan (2018-2025) which the College faculty believe will launch us to national prominence. The new Strategic Plan stresses research throughout the curriculum in each program and obtain national research funding for these important efforts. The College will seek resources that will recruit world class researchers, and for the first time as a college, prepare students for research investigations of clinical problems in the Health Professions. The College will strive to grow its clinical outreach efforts, expand its existing training opportunities and add new academic BS, PhD and professional training programs to provide new career choices for students who choose to come to work with world class faculty at UTHSC. The goal of the College is to strive to be the best, but to begin with, it will work hard with all of the alumni and stakeholders  to elevate the national ranking of every program in the college to be in the top 20 (or higher) by 2025.

Accreditation

The AuD degree program in Audiology at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard #310, Rockville, Maryland 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700.

(Latest accreditation period: June 1, 2014 – May 31, 2022)

The MS degree program in Speech-Language Pathology at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard #310, Rockville, Maryland 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700.

(Latest accreditation period: June 1, 2014 – May 31, 2022)

The cytotechnology curriculum of the UTHSC Master of Cytopathology Practice degree program is accredited by the:

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
25400 US Highway 19 N., Suite 158
Clearwater, FL 33763
Phone: 727.210.2350
www.caahep.org

The histotechnology curriculum of the UTHSC Master of Cytopathology Practice degree program is accredited by the:

National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)
5600 River Road, Suite 720
Rosemont, IL 60018
Phone: 773.714.8880
www.naacls.org 

The UTHSC program in Medical Laboratory Science is accredited by the:

National Accrediting Agency, Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)
5600 N. River Road, Suite 720
Rosemont, IL 60018
Phone: 773.714.8880

The Entry-Level Master's Program in Health Information Management programs is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). For more information about CAHIIM, go to www.cahiim.org to verify the accreditation status of the programs.

The Post-graduate Health Information Management Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). For more information about CAHIIM, go to www.cahiim.org to verify the accreditation status of the programs.

The occupational therapy program is accredited by the:

Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, 
Bethesda, MD 20814-3449. 
www.acoteonline.org
ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) has accredited the Memphis campus through the 2022/2023 academic year.

The Program in Physical Therapy (DPT) at UTHSC is accredited by the:

The Program in Physical Therapy (DPT) at UTHSC is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: www.capteonline.org.

If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please contact R. Barry Dale, PT, PhD, OCS, SCS, MBA, ATC, CSCS by email knz626@uthsc.edu

The Program received initial accreditation by CAPTE in 1966 and has been continuously accredited since that time.

Diversity Statement

The UTHSC College of Health Professions is committed to fostering the excellence that emerges from a diverse, equitable, and inclusive health community. We view the health community as a broad partnership comprising administration, faculty, staff, students, donors, clients, and other stakeholders of the UTHSC College of Health Professions. We believe that equity, inclusion, and diversity within our health community leads to deeper engagement, and, therefore, better solutions, resulting in a greater and socially just experience for all its members. 

We strengthen and sustain knowledge when we have a healthy exchange of ideas and perspectives in a diverse setting. We believe that only by valuing diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice can we develop and maintain campus and clinical environments, and society at large, where every person may work, study, innovate, serve, and excel. Healthcare equity and inclusion is an outcome to which we in the College of Health Professions are fully dedicated, and we recognize the significance of continuing to develop our cultural fluidity through a lens of social justice, both as individuals and collectively as part of our role as current and future healthcare professionals. We look forward to continued conversations and advancement in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.

Oct 18, 2023