Featured News
Every day College of Health Professions students, alumni, faculty and staff do extraordinary things. Read more about our latest achievements below.
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.
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.
VCU convenes leading health care management scholars to advance research that improves health care organizations
Virginia Commonwealth University's College of Health Professions recently welcomed leading health care management scholars from across the country for the annual conference of the Organization Theory in Health Care Association (OTHC), a national organization dedicated to advancing research on how health care organizations can improve quality, workforce well-being, patient care, and organizational performance.
Why VCU Convergence is built to take on neurodegeneration: Q&A with Faika Zanjani
Nearly seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a number projected to nearly double by 2050. At Virginia Commonwealth University, researchers are adamant that the path forward is led through collaboration. Faika Zanjani, Ph.D., a VCU gerontology professor and associate dean of research of the College of Health Professions, discusses the urgency of her research and why VCU is positioned to lead and what gives her hope.
Inaugural Transforming Chaplaincy members look back on 10 years of the organization and its future
The field of chaplaincy is becoming increasingly research-focused, and one catalyst has been Transforming Chaplaincy (TC), a program designed to promote evidence-based spiritual care and blend research with professional practice. Established at Rush University in Chicago a decade ago, TC has several faculty members of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Patient Counseling who have led and championed initiatives within TC.
Contact Malorie Burkett at mgburkett@vcu.edu or (804) 828-7247.