Featured News
Every day College of Health Professions students, alumni, faculty and staff do extraordinary things. Read more about our latest achievements below.
Clarke’s legacy lives on through new endowment
Long before virtual classrooms became commonplace and lecture recordings were just a click away, Gerald “Jerry” Clarke was quietly making distance education work.
Insights into the impact of loan limits for nurse anesthesia students
Changes to student loan limits are concerning for students across the Commonwealth and the nation. Earlier this year, as part of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the Department of Education proposed significant changes to loan limits and repayment programs that directly impact nursing students.
From concept to classroom
In January, the master’s program welcomed its first 10-student cohort. Now in their second semester, students are advancing from foundational coursework into increasingly complex simulation training while preparing for clinical rotations that will begin this fall.
Brenda Brown elected president of CHP Staff Advisory Council
Brenda Brown, program manager for the VCU Department of Patient Counseling, has been elected president of the College of Health Professions (CHP) Staff Advisory Council. The honor marks a leadership milestone for both the council and the department she has served for more than a decade.
VCU fuels new and emerging research endeavors and cross-campus collaboration with 2026 Quest Fund awards
These competitive internal grants empower faculty to launch pilot studies, restart research programs and drive transdisciplinary discoveries.
Patient Counseling department seeks to improve chaplaincy profession with revised degree
The education of chaplains has been a multi-step process requiring multiple certifications and can be quite lengthy. To address the multi-step process and to focus more on clinical practice, the Patient Counseling Department at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions has developed a new degree program concentration to refine the approach to becoming a chaplain.
Finnegan-Hosey represents VCU at national poetry therapy conference
At the 2026 National Association for Poetry Therapy Conference in Chicago, presentations and panels weren’t the only agenda items. Therapists, psychologists and poets from across the country also connected through moments of shared writing, silence and reflection, affirming the healing power of the art form they had gathered to celebrate.
Sonography director donates lab to inspire students
VCU alum Yonella Demars leaves a legacy at a place where future sonographers can learn to excel at their craft. (VCU Health News)
Summer program offers glimpse into public health and laboratory science careers
The Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions, recently held a Public Health Summer Program to provide students with the opportunity to learn more about public health and medical laboratory sciences.
Tanya Smith on being interim chief anesthetist at VCU, new workforce challenges, and how CHP still holds a place in her heart
One of the newer leaders within the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System is Tanya Smith, CRNA, DNAP, who was named interim chief nurse anesthesiologist in October 2025. Having attended the College of Health Professions in the early 2000s, Smith has worked for VCU Health for decades and draws on her experience to guide the department into the future.
Contact Malorie Burkett at mgburkett@vcu.edu or (804) 828-7247.