New Health Sciences College Launches At Illinois State University

Roosevelt University is no stranger in leading change.  We can see this once again with the planned launch of their new health sciences college. This launch has been in the works for some time, as the university positions itself to offer the best education to its students.

Given the new approaches to medicine we are seeing, which have been sped up by the pandemic, universities have to offer a standard of education that meets healthcare needs. Beyond raising the standard, the health sciences college also seeks to increase the supply of healthcare professionals.

A Health Sciences College For An Ever Changing World

The two main objectives the health sciences college seeks to meet are: to help meet the growing demand for more nurses and doctors; to gear up these students with the education to prepare them for the tech-heavy healthcare industry.

Dr. Melissa Hogan and Dr. Kelly Wentz-Hunter will serve as co-deans of the college.  In a statement released this week, Wentz-Hunter said;

“We are facing a new era in health care. We have a unique opportunity to leverage our successful programs and provide a more holistic approach in training and educating our future professionals. This will be guided by our social justice mission.”

Opportunity For Expansion

Earlier this year, Roosevelt University and Robert Morris University merged. This move has provided Roosevelt with a great opportunity to expand the range of degrees it offers.

Roosevelt already had a strong healthcare department and the additional courses from the former Robert Morris University provide a perfect complement. Adding the health sciences college is certainly an excellent way to take advantage of the added expertise the university now boasts.

Financial Support For The University

This new health sciences college will be able to count on funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Over the course of five years, the new school will make use of a $1M grant given by the institute.

Co-dean Melissa Hogan believes the range of courses offered by the health sciences college is what will set it apart;

“Through its breadth of programs, the new College of Science, Health, and Pharmacy will supply the region with the diverse perspectives that are essential to high-quality health care,” 

Understanding of a New Era

As we wrote in September 2018, the country is facing a worsening doctor shortage; the events of this year have shone a bright light on that situation. Moves like this by a prestigious college is exactly what is needed to fix that issue and provide high-quality doctors throughout the country.

This year has also shown us just how beneficial the world of telehealth is, and how important a role it can play in the healthcare landscape. This was long expected to happen, yet nobody could foresee a situation like the pandemic, which would force the switch to a more tech-heavy healthcare service far sooner than expected.

Medicine is always changing and advancing.  It’s good that this is the case because it is necessary if medical professionals are to meet arising conditions.  So, too, do the educational institutes which train our doctors, nurses and medical professionals need to adapt to new conditions in the medical world. The introduction of the health sciences college is exactly the kind of support schools such as Roosevelt University can offer to help professionals make greater progress towards medical breakthroughs.

Leading Light For The Future

Following the university’s integration with Robert Morris, many were watching to see what would be next for the campus. Beyond the move to create the health sciences college, they have also announced a new computer science center.

We covered here just how important AI will be in the future of healthcare. Given that Roosevelt has now taken care of the computing side of medicine, this university may very well become a leader in health tech education.

One thing is for sure: this is a university that is putting itself front and center when it comes to offering a high standard of medical education to its students.