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Message from the Interim Dean

Dr. Harkrider

Hello and welcome to our esteemed College of Health Professions! 

We are thrilled to have you join our vibrant community where excellence in healthcare education and practice is our hallmark. Our college offers a diverse array of programs designed to prepare you for a rewarding career in the health professions, including Audiology, Cytotechnology and Histotechnology, Health Informatics and Information Management, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Pathologists’ Assistant, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Pathology.

Our Audiology and Speech Pathology programs are in Knoxville, while all other programs are based in Memphis. This ensures that you have access to top-notch educational opportunities across the state of Tennessee. Speaking of top-notch, our Audiology program recently was ranked 23rd in the nation by US News and World Reports and our Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech Pathology programs were ranked in the top 25% in the country!

Our dedicated faculty are leaders in their fields, committed to providing you with cutting-edge knowledge and hands-on experiences that will empower you to make a significant impact in the world of healthcare. Whether you’re diagnosing hearing disorders, preparing and analyzing laboratory specimens, developing innovative health informatics solutions, or providing essential therapeutic services, you’ll find the support and resources you need to excel.

Join us as we embark on this exciting journey together. We can’t wait to see the incredible contributions you’ll make to our community and beyond!

Warm regards,

Ashley W. Harkrider, PhD
Interim Dean of the College of Health Professions



College Information

Mission
The Mission of the College of Health Professions is to create outstanding health professionals to improve the well-being of Tennesseans and the global community through collaborative and inclusive education, scientific discovery, clinical care, and public service. 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.

May 20, 2025