New Pathways to Wellness Initiative Looks to Build Enrollment in Graduate Healthcare Programs
River Forest, IL—Empowering more students, particularly Latine students, to pursue advanced degrees in healthcare is the goal of a new academic initiative from Dominican University.
As the recipient of a five-year, $3 million grant from the federal Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans program, the university is building Pathways to Wellness, a program designed to create new graduate degrees and new post-baccalaureate certificates, better support graduate students holistically and financially, and increase graduate enrollment and degree completion in Dominican’s Borra College of Health Sciences.
Making it possible for more Latine students to complete a graduate degree is a key component of the program, as this population is underrepresented within post-baccalaureate and graduate programs in healthcare overall.
“Increasing the number of Latine graduates in Dominican’s graduate health science programs demonstrates our mission-driven commitment to our Hispanic-Serving Institution identity while addressing our region’s acute shortages of a diverse and qualified healthcare workforce,” said Dominican University President Dr. Glena Temple.
The Pathways to Wellness program includes the following:
• the design of a new Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling degree to address regional inequities within this field, and the redesign of the university’s Master of Health Sciences degree to create a more accessible path to advanced healthcare programs and careers.
• development of post-baccalaureate certificates for high-demand careers in certified drug and alcohol abuse counseling and lab technology. These certificates will be stackable toward the completion of a master’s degree.
• improvement of graduate program support services, including mental health services, academic supports, scholarships, emergency aid, and testing and licensure fees.
• building of partnerships with PhD and MD-granting universities to facilitate Dominican’s post-baccalaureate students seamless pathways advanced degrees in healthcare careers.
“This grant allows us to provide additional opportunities for our students and alumnae/i to matriculate into graduate programs seamlessly and with the funding and the support for them to be successful,” said Dr. Tamara Bland, dean of the Borra College of Health Sciences and Project Director of the Pathways to Wellness Project. “It also helps take away limitations and barriers, opening up endless opportunities to explore educational paths within the health sciences so students can go further and beyond what maybe society has said they can do.”
Embedded within the program are academic and wellness supports for students, made possible through partnerships with community and industry leaders. These include health care mentorship, the addition of a health science academic and career advisor, increased clinical experiences, opportunities for paid apprenticeships, test preparation support, wellness groups and access to a counseling center therapist.
Pathways to Wellness will also provide students with a look at healthcare careers that go beyond patient care.
“There are so many opportunities that are not ‘bedside based,’” Bland noted. “Students can enter education, they can do research, they can work for businesses or organizations. I think the door is wide open for students entering graduate programs and graduating with a degree in health sciences because they can choose from many career opportunities.”
About Dominican University
Founded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution offering an Associate of Arts in liberal arts and sciences, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees through the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences, the Borra College of Health Sciences, the Brennan School of Business and the College of Applied Social Sciences. The university also offers doctoral degrees in information studies and applied social justice. U.S. News & World Report ranks Dominican University in the top 20 of Midwest regional master’s level universities, #1 in the Midwest for Best Value and #1 in Illinois for best undergraduate teaching and ensuring the social mobility of its graduates. A nationally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, Dominican University has campuses in River Forest and Chicago's Pilsen community.