The University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies announces a new Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) program to begin in January 2009. The program will prepare expert nurse practitioners to design, administer, and evaluate practice interventions and health care systems with a special focus on reducing health care disparities. Equally important, the program will help to address the national nursing shortage by increasing the number of clinical experts qualified to teach at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

"The past decade has seen a growing interest in practice-focused doctoral pro-grams in nursing to complement the research-focused PhD," says Dean Nena Pera-gallo, DrPH, RN, FAAN, in announcing the new program. "National trends are driving the demand for professionals in many fields to hold practice doctorates. Our program will educate advance-practice nurses who are capable of implementing the science developed by PhD-prepared nurses and teaching safe, clinically-current practice to the next generation of nursing students."

"Nurses offer real solutions to the health care crisis," says University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, our nation’s longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services. "While others continue to debate how to solve today's health care challenges, nurses are finding solutions, on a daily basis, to ensure access to quality care. In addition to meeting the needs of the profession, the University of Miami’s DNP pro-gram will prepare advance-practice nurses to create effective health care systems, facilitate better patient care, and improve patient outcomes."

Educating more doctorally-prepared nurses is central to the school’s mission, for without increasing the number of clinical faculty, the University of Miami cannot do its part to address the critical nursing shortage. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2005) projects a shortage of 1 million nurses nationwide by the year 2010. The state of Florida alone faces an estimated shortage of 18,000 nurses by 2010 and over 60,000 by 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More than 32,000 qualified applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs were turned away nationwide last year due to insufficient faculty and resource constraints, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2007). This total included almost 3,000 students who could potentially have assumed clinical faculty roles.

"Building on the school’s strong tradition of community service, cultural competency, and evidence-based research, our DNP will offer three tracks: clinical, administration, and education," notes JoAnn Trybulski, PhD, RN, the Associate Dean at the School of Nursing and Health Studies who will oversee the program. "The three-semester curriculum, developed in accordance with the guidelines of the AACN’s "Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice," will be offered in a flexible, executive-education format. Our clinical partners, including the University of Miami Hospital, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital, and Jackson Memorial Hospital, offer unique opportunities for highly specialized, cut-ting-edge clinical practical."

As another unique feature, students will take selected courses with faculty at the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration and School of Education. "Our DNP program is truly interdisciplinary," notes Trybulski. "Partnering with other schools at the University of Miami will provide our DNP graduates with a broad base of knowledge and a competitive edge."

They’re not just good at patient care. Miami Dade College’s (MDC) physician assistant students are also masters at answering hard questions. On May 26, they proved knowledge truly is power by winning second place at the 2008 Student Academy of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (SAAAPA) National Medical Challenge Bowl held in San Antonio.

MDC qualified for the Challenge Bowl after winning the state championship title in February for the second consecutive year. At the national competition, team members Victor Quiñones, Jeffrey Abucay and Oswaldo Franco beat out squads from Duke University, Cornell University and Charles Drew University of Medicine, among others.

(l-r) Oswaldo Franco, Jeffrey Abucay, and Victor Quiñones.

"It’s a big accomplishment for us," Quiñones said. "We became the crowd favorite because we were the underdogs."

The competition consisted of two rounds of trivia, leading up to a final showdown. Participants from all over the country were quizzed on general medicine, such as the common cause of pneumonia, as well as more advanced knowledge.

"It’s very competitive," said Dr. Peter Gutierrez, chair of the MDC physician assistant program. "Forty-eight teams participated, and, of those, most were students in masters-level programs."

The vigorous physician assistant program at MDC trains students for in-demand careers performing various aspects of medical care, such as theory, instrumentation, diagnosis, treatment, and administration of medication under the supervision of a licensed physician.

El Centro, at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, is proud to announce its first class of Summer Scholars.

The Summer Scholars program offers research opportunities for students interested in health disparities topics. The scholars will pursue research projects designed to improve the well-being of minority populations supported by a paid, eight-week internship.

"El Centro was established to develop cutting-edge research leading to innovative intervention therapies that will impact the health of minority groups," said Nilda Peragallo, DrPH, RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. "We are pleased to provide research training to the next generation of professionals dedicated to reducing health disparities among minorities."

Three outstanding individuals at various stages in their education were chosen to take part in the program from schools and colleges throughout the University of Miami: Tainayah Thomas, a graduating senior in the College of Arts and Sciences with a double major in International Studies and Sociology; Emory Graham, a student in the Family Nurse Practitioner masters’ program at the School of Nursing and Health Studies; and Patrick Williams, an accomplished high school teacher and a doctoral student in the School of Education’s Teaching and Learning Program.

"The project for each scholar has been tailored to the individual’s interests and level of experience," said Professor Victoria Mitrani, PhD. "The El Centro research team is dedicated to mentoring emerging scientists and encouraging young people to pursue careers in health disparities research," said Mitrani.

El Centro was created for the purpose of advancing the scientific development and evaluation of culturally-specific interventions in a constellation of health conditions that disproportionately affect Hispanics. Its establishment will enable researchers to strengthen partnerships with the Miller School of Medicine and community organizations through multiyear studies targeting substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, family and intimate partner violence and co-occurring mental health conditions.