MBCNEWS
Opening Day
STUDENT BODY AT A GLANCE As of 6/3/14
Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences welcomes the first class of students to its new campus and plans for expansion with a program for nurses By Liesel Crosier
J
ust two and a half years after announcing the creation of its new graduate school, Mary Baldwin College is opening the doors at Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences and welcoming to a beautiful new campus enthusiastic faculty and a diverse inaugural class of occupational and physical therapy doctoral students. Staff and students are excited about the school’s interprofessional educational approach in which students in different health care programs learn together with the goal of improving patient care through professional collaboration. This curriculum model is new to allied health and is being developed at Murphy Deming from the
ground up. It is an exciting prospect, says Vice President of Health Sciences Linda Seestedt-Stanford. “The amount of support for our programs has been tremendous, and it has served to reaffirm our mission — inspiring the entire Murphy Deming team,” SeestedtStanford said. “We are elated with the response we’ve received from applicants, accepted students, and the community.” Seestedt-Stanford is also looking forward to next year’s launch of the master of science in physician assistant studies program and the bachelor of science in nursing degree completion offering for registered nurses.
Physical Therapy 60% Virginia 40% Out of state 74% Women 26% Men
Occupational Therapy 57% Virginia 43% Out of state 94% Women 6% Men
Welcome to Class
While the men and women who make up the first group of OT and PT students bring many types of motivation to the classroom, all are enthusiastic about being in the inaugural class. Meet a few of the new scholars at Murphy Deming. AMY LEHMAN occupational therapy Lehman, of Lacey Spring, comes to Murphy Deming from James Madison University where she graduated this spring with a degree in health sciences. She hopes to use her occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) to work in geriatrics or hand therapy. KATHERINE HEINECK occupational therapy Staunton resident Heineck (left) is “Boldly Baldwin through and through,” as a 2012 MBC graduate with a degree in psychology. She would like to work with as many different populations as possible after earning her OTD to build confidence in the field. JULIE KRAUS physical therapy Kraus — originally from Staunton but now living in North Carolina — graduated from the University of North Carolina–Greensboro with a degree in exercise and sports science (now known as kinesiology). If the right opportunity presents itself, Kraus says, she will stay in the Shenandoah Valley after she earns her doctor of physical therapy (DPT).
The three-story flagship building in Fishersville includes four large classrooms; six seminar rooms; eight clinical laboratories, including a simulation suite; two research spaces; faculty/staff offices; and numerous collaborative learning spaces.
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Summer 2014
MATTHEW JEWEL physical therapy Jewel, from Warsaw, Virginia, earned a degree in kinesiology from James Madison University. After he earns his DPT he is considering a possible career in the military, but ultimately sees himself settling in as a practitioner in an outpatient orthopedic clinic.
