New Therapy Clinic is Labor of Love

The ribbon cutting at the Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center at UTHSC was a cause for celebration.
The Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center opened Feb. 9 at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The only student-run, faculty-supervised, pro bono, pediatric occupational therapy clinic in the country, it is dedicated to the memory of Rachel Kay Stevens, an occupational therapy student who died in 2015 shortly after starting her training at UTHSC. It reflects a commitment by the OT Department in the College of Health Professions to bring services to the uninsured and underinsured in the region and is a labor of love for the students and faculty who, spurred by a donation from Rachel’s parents, raised funds, set up the space and will offer services in the clinic to an expected 300-500 families a year.

Global Vision

PODs will provide “clean room” space for drug manufacture in the new Plough Center for Sterile Drug Delivery Systems at UTHSC.
PODs will provide “clean room” space for drug manufacture in the new Plough Center for Sterile Drug Delivery Systems at UTHSC.

UTHSC is moving into the global pharmaceutical marketplace with construction of its new Plough Center for Sterile Drug Delivery Systems, a $16 million, state-of-the-art facility for manufacturing drugs and training students and professionals from the pharmaceutical industry and government regulatory agencies in pharmaceutical production. The facility moved a step closer to completion recently with the delivery of three massive PODs, trailer-like structures that were installed in the building to serve as sterile or “clean room” space for drug production.

PAs on Their Way

The inaugural class of the PA program at UTHSC graduated in December.

 

The members of the inaugural class of the Physician Assistant Studies Program at UTHSC received their degrees during the winter graduation ceremony in December 2015. The two-year master’s program, which started in January 2014, initially had more than 900 applicants for 26 seats. It has since been expanded to 30 seats, and the number of applicants has more than doubled. Ninety-two percent of the class passed the national board exam on its first attempt. UTHSC’s program is the smallest in Tennessee, the only one at a public university and the only one at an academic health science center.

A New Day in Cancer Care

West Cancer Center front entrance

An innovative collaboration by UTHSC, West Clinic and Methodist Healthcare is bringing comprehensive cancer care, education and research to the Mid-South and beyond. The East Campus location of the West Cancer Center, a $65 million, 123,251-square-foot building on the edge of Germantown, Tennessee, opened in late fall, magnifying the strengths of each of the institutions to improve patient care, elevate training for the next generation of clinicians, and aid in recruiting research leaders from all over the country to Memphis.