HUNTINGDON COLLEGE
Faith * Wisdom * Service
NEWS RELEASE
June 29, 2017
For immediate release:
Students explore careers in health sciences
Montgomery, Ala.—Seventeen Alabama high school seniors participated in the first annual Huntingdon College Health Sciences Academy earlier this month. During the three-day academy, students received personalized white coats, participated in Huntingdon alumni discussions about health professions, conducted experiments in hands-on health-related laboratories, and assembled health kits in a service project for the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR). The academy concluded with a graduation ceremony and luncheon.
According to Dr. Maureen Murphy, professor of chemistry, who directed the academy, the healthcare industry is one of the few fields that, despite difficult economic woes, is hiring at an astounding rate. Jobs in the health sciences are expected to grow faster than any other industry — roughly 22%, or 3.2 million new jobs, by 2018. The purpose of the academy was to address the demand for healthcare professionals and to help rising high school seniors who are interested in health care professions to see where their talents and interests fit with the industry’s needs.
“Huntingdon has a long-standing tradition of excellent placement rates for graduates into medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry, physician assistant, accelerated nursing, and public health schools,” said Murphy. “Based upon the success of this year’s event and the evaluations of the student participants, we hope to expand HHSA for summer 2018.”
Students were selected for participation after an application process. Murphy said she and the other Huntingdon faculty who worked with the group and will continue to serve as mentors to participants as they explore career options, were impressed by the participants. “These students enriched our lives and spaces with their presence and engagement,” said Murphy. “They were an excellent first class. This is the class by which all future HHSA classes will be measured.”
Grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the United Methodist Church, Huntingdon College is committed to nurturing growth in faith, wisdom, and service and to graduating individuals prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is a coeducational liberal arts college recognized among “The Fastest Growing Colleges in America” by The Chronicle of Higher Education; among the top 10 regional colleges and top 10 best regional values by U.S. News and World Report; among the top tier of regional colleges by the Princeton Review; among “Colleges that Contribute to the Public Good,” by Washington Monthly; and on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Huntingdon campus, a Tree Campus USA, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Suellen (Su) Ofe
Vice President
for Marketing and Communications
Huntingdon College
1500 E. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36106
(334) 833-4515; Cell (334) 324-6591
www.huntingdon.edu
