Alliance for Health Sciences > Progress

Progress

The Alliance for Health Sciences began with a great idea, one that recognized the natural fit between DePaul's interdisciplinary undergraduate science programs and Rosalind Franklin's interprofessional graduate health care programs. Like all great ideas, it took careful nurturing to bring it to fruition. Our students, faculties, institutions and communities will reap the benefits for years to come.

January 2017
Additional entry terms were added for the MENP program at the Lincoln Park campus (spring and summer).

February 2017
Pathways Honors students and RFUMS faculty and staff participated in the Profiles in Health program.  This event is for students interested in healthcare careers and offers students opportunities to connect with health professionals to learn more about their field and training, advice on how to become a competitive candidate for professional programs and valuable networking contacts with the potential for shadowing and mentoring arrangements.

From Psychology Degree to Career Success
In February 2017, Pathways Honors students participated in a networking event featuring a panel that included RFUMS clinical psychology students.

April 2017
DePaul hosted Illinois Pre-Health Day.  This day-long conference provides best practices in becoming a competitive applicant and opportunities to network with admissions counselors.  Students learn about profession-specific admissions requirements from participating programs and participate in skill building workshops and labs. RFUMS contributed speakers and panelists for multiple break-out sessions.

Spring 2017
Eight Pathways Honors students were accepted into the Early Opportunity Program.

June 2017
The first Pathways Honors cohort graduated.  Of the students that graduated, approximately 63% went on to post-graduate studies in the health professions.  

Summer 2017
Eleven Pathways Honors students participated in the RFUMS/DePaul Summer Research Internship program at RFUMS.

September 2017
120 Pathways Honors students enrolled which was double the amount of students that enrolled in the first cohort/pilot.
Spring 2016
Ten Pathways Honors students were accepted into the Early Opportunity Program.

June 2016
DePaul nursing faculty participated in RFUMS' June 8 event, which addressed the nation's shift to population health--a transformative model that stresses coordinated, team-based care, patient satisfaction, promotion of wellness, improved clinical outcomes and lower costs.

Summer 2016
Nine Pathways Honors students participated in the RFUMS/DePaul Summer Research Internship program at RFUMS.  

September 2016
The fourth annual DePaul-RFUMS Research Retreat was held in September 2016.   A symposium and poster session focused on research progress.  29 total projects were submitted and $1.277 million in funding was approved for the third round.

Gender Bias Under the Microscope
DePaul faculty and students participated in RFUMS' inaugural Women in Medicine and Science Symposium on September 23.  This day-long event featured nationally recognized speakers, including women in science, medicine, academia and business, in addition to panel discussions and workshops.

Art and Science
The Theatre School at DePaul performed a staged reading of "Photograph 51," the award-winning play about RFUMS namesake Rosalind Franklin, PhD, on September 23.  Drama students gave an encore performance and post-show talk, September 24, at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, during RFU fest.

February 2014
Sophomores Kal Nastek and Gloria Zavala were awarded Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Health Sciences Scholarships. The math majors are the first DePaul students to receive the scholarships.


March 2014
Accelerated 3+ programs in Medicine and Physician Assistant Studies were approved, joining existing programs in Pharmacy and Podiatric Medicine. Undergraduate students at DePaul began enrolling in the new programs in the fall of 2014.


May 2014
A DePaul University/Rosalind Franklin Collaborative Research Day, including poster presentation, was held May 9 on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus. Researchers gave updates on their current projects while additional faculty from Rosalind Franklin and DePaul sought research partners and applied for funding from the joint research fund. 


June 2014
The RN to MS graduate nursing program was approved. Students can begin enrolling in the program in the winter quarter of 2014.


June 2014
Fifty students successfully completed the first year of the Pathways Honors Program during its first-year pilot.


August 2014
Thirteen DePaul University Pathways students participated in the RFUMS/DePaul Research Internship summer program. The students undertook research projects over the course of eight to 12 weeks, guided by the following faculty mentors: Kuei Tseng, Ph.D., and Jeremy Rosenkrantz, department of cellular and molecular pharmacology; Ronald Kaplan, Ph.D., Carl Correll, Ph.D., and Min Lu, Ph.D., department of biochemistry and molecular biology; Bob Marr, Ph.D., and Tony West, Ph.D., department of neuroscience; Kwang-Poo Chang, Ph.D., David Everly, Ph.D., and Gulam Waris, Ph.D., department of microbiology and immunology; and Hongkyun Kim, Ph.D., and Michelle Hastings, Ph.D., department of cell biology and anatomy.


September 2014
Students at both universities began choosing from a broader array of electives thanks to collaboration in the areas of nursing, health informatics, health communication and health sector management.


November 2014
A newly-constructed clinical skills lab opened on November 18 at RFUMS. The interactive lab enhances DePaul’s Master’s Entry to Nursing Practice program, offering an immersive clinical training environment that features hospital beds, low-fidelity simulation and other learning technology.

January 2015
DePaul University’s School for New Learning is now offering classes on the RFUMS campus. A cohort of 18 students, about half of them RFUMS employees, are pursuing bachelor degrees through the competence-based program, which offers assessment of professional learning, training and certification for degree credit.

PA vs. PA
Mary Dydo, director of the pathologists’ assistant program, and Ziemowit Mazur, associate director of the physician assistant program, visited DePaul to present “PA vs. PA” as part of an interprofessional exchange on behalf of about 40 students interested in the health professions.

RFUMS night at Allstate Arena
DePaul's men's basketball team played Villanova at the first Rosalind Franklin night at Allstate Arena. RFUMS faculty, staff and students enjoyed discounted tickets and special seating, where they were joined by students and faculty from the DePaul Pathways Honors Program. The game included announcements of the benefits of the Alliance for Health Sciences between the two universities.

March 2015
Prominent health care educators and professionals gathered at DePaul on March 23 to discuss interprofessional approaches to health care delivery. The all-day symposium generated discussions about professional development programs to meet the region's health care needs.

April 2015
DePaul's College of Law held a continuing medical education conference on April 16 about regulation of physicians and attorneys in the area of consensual and nonconsensual sexual relationships between providers and patients/clients. The conference was offered by live video feed at Rosalind Franklin.

May 2015
On May 8, DePaul and RFUMS held their third annual research retreat. Participants identified new collaborative research projects to be led by DePaul and RFUMS investigators and provided updates on the 14 projects currently funded under the alliance grant program. “We want to tackle significant problems in widely diverse fields, resulting in substantive advances in knowledge and high-impact, peer-reviewed publications,” said Ronald Kaplan, PhD, executive vice president for research at RFUMS.

Careers in Scientific Research
RFUMS faculty members met with Pathways Honors students to share their research and educational and professional paths.

June 2015
The Early Opportunity Program was introduced. The program offers select Pathways Honors student the opportunity for an early admission decision into one of six professional health care programs at RFUMS:  medicine, pharmacy, podiatry, physician assistant studies, physical therapy and pathology assistant.  Students may matriculate at RFUMS at the end of their third year (3+ accelerated) or fourth year (4+ traditional).  This program is an additional accelerated option to graduate school.  

Summer 2015
Thirteen Pathways Honors students participated in the RFUMS/DePaul Summer Research Internship program at RFUMS.  The students undertook research projects over the course of eight to 12 weeks, guided by RFUMS faculty mentors.

October 2015
Pathways Honors students and RFUMS faculty and staff participated in the Profiles in Health program.  This event is for students interested in healthcare careers and offers students opportunities to connect with health professionals to learn more about their field and training, advice on how to become a competitive candidate for professional programs and valuable networking contacts with the potential for shadowing and mentoring arrangements.


January 2013
DePaul and Rosalind Franklin faculty and staff collaborate on developing the undergraduate Pathways Honors Program, including co-taught classes, curricular enhancements, joint advising and accelerated admissions opportunities.


January 2013
Two Rosalind Franklin faculty members teach winter-quarter courses at DePaul.


Feb. 1, 2013
More than 70 faculty members from DePaul and Rosalind Franklin attended a retreat to brainstorm new collaborative research projects.


March 2013
DePaul receives state approval to offer its Master’s Entry to Nursing Practice degree at the Rosalind Franklin campus, beginning in fall 2013.


April 2013
DePaul’s undergraduate accelerated degree option that feeds into Rosalind Franklin’s Doctor of Pharmacy program is approved for the fall of 2013.


April 2013
DePaul’s undergraduate accelerated degree option that feeds into Rosalind Franklin’s Doctor of Podiatric Medicine program is approved for the fall of 2013.


June 2013
A pool of $500,000 is split between 11 research projects, jointly led by investigators from DePaul and Rosalind Franklin, which grew out of the February retreat.


June 2013
More than two dozen DePaul undergraduates take part in summer research internships at Rosalind Franklin.


September 2013
Rosalind Franklin President Dr. K. Michael Welch and DePaul President the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., cut the ribbon at the dedication of the Rothstein Warden Centennial Learning Center.


Sept. 11, 2013
A total of 59 undergraduate students in DePaul's College of Science and Health begin classes in the first Pathways Honors Program pilot.


November 2013
Leaders and members of the Rosalind Franklin, DePaul and health care community gather for the dedication ceremony of the Rothstein Warden Centennial Learning Center.

Spring 2009
The president of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science contacts the president of DePaul University about a possible affiliation between the two institutions.


August 2009
DePaul and Rosalind Franklin hire a facilitator to explore the potential of a relationship.


August 2010
A memorandum of understanding is signed. A task force begins a comprehensive review of different relationship models for consideration.


May 20, 2011
DePaul announces its College of Science and Health, incorporating programs in biology, chemistry, physics, nursing, psychology, environmental science, mathematics and statistics that were previously located in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It also creates a new Bachelor of Science in health sciences degree.


May 20, 2011
Rosalind Franklin establishes the College of Pharmacy.


July 2011
Rosalind Franklin’s new Interprofessional Education Center opens.


September 2011
The task force’s partnership recommendations are presented to the presidents and boards of Rosalind Franklin and DePaul. The boards support the overall approach.


May 2012
Final recommendations are presented to the boards of DePaul and Rosalind Franklin.


Oct. 3, 2012
The Alliance for Health Sciences between DePaul and Rosalind Franklin is announced.

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