Students and faculty from UTHSC joined volunteers from various local academic health-care institutions in Memphis to assist in the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations.
The university is working with the city of Memphis and UTHSC’s clinical practice partner, University Clinical Health, to staff the city’s community vaccination distribution sites.
The volunteer workforce from UTHSC includes students from the colleges of Nursing, Medicine and Pharmacy.
UTHSC students have volunteered more than 4,924 hours in direct vaccination roles and 3,978 hours in vaccination support roles.
Knoxville Couple Gives $1 Million to College of Dentistry
Dr. Walter and Lynne Fain of Knoxville made a gift of $1 million to help the UT Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) College of Dentistry launch a dental training center in Knoxville.
The college’s strategic plan is to place clinics across the state to help address the needs of those with limited access to dental care. The facility will be named the Walter and Lynne Fain Dental Center.
“The initial plan for the Knoxville training site is to establish a senior dental student clinical rotational site, followed by an Advanced Education in General Dentistry program,” says UTHSC College of Dentistry Dean James Ragain. “Ultimately, we plan to provide a facility where approximately 40 dental students will complete their last two years of dental school in Knoxville.
Walter graduated from UT Knoxville in 1968 and the UT College of Dentistry in 1970. Lynne graduated from UT Knoxville in 1972. He has been in private practice in Knoxville for the last 50 years. Lynne has served as president of the UT Alumni Association and has chaired the UT Alumni Past President’s Council. She is currently a member of UT President Randy Boyd’s President’s Council.
“I realized I could make a difference and move this initiative forward,” Walter says. “What would be more fitting than to return something to a profession I have enjoyed for 50 years and to the community where I have always lived? Practicing dentistry in Knoxville is not just what I do; it is who I am.”
UTHSC College of Nursing Opens Nurse-Midwifery Program
The UTHSC College of Nursing is now offering a Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse-Midwifery option—the only such program at a public university in Tennessee.
The college recently received a four-year pre-accreditation from the American College of Midwifery Education and anticipates admitting its first cohort in August.
The program also is the only nurse-midwifery program in close proximity to Arkansas and Mississippi, where no program is offered. The first cohort includes a maximum of eight students. The full-time plan of study for the program is three years, and the part-time plan of study is four years.
“We are pleased to bring this program to the Mid-South to improve access and outcomes for women, their babies and their families,” says College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes.