Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
| Type |
Private For-profit |
|---|---|
| Established | 1998 |
| President | Richard P. Nielsen[1] |
Academic staff | 110 |
Administrative staff | 136 |
| Students | 775 (2018) [2] |
| Location | Provo, Utah, United States |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | https://rmuohp.edu |
 | |
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is a regionally accredited institution established in 1998 as a graduate healthcare education provider. It is located in Provo, Utah.[3]
RMUoHP’s student body represents all 50 states and offers both residential and limited-residency programs. The limited-residency academic model allows students to continue to meet their professional and family obligations while obtaining their graduate education.
History
Rocky Mountain University of Physical Therapy was established in 1998 by Dr. Richard P. Nielsen and Dr. Michael Skurja Jr. as an exclusive post-professional graduate healthcare institution.[4] Nielsen and Skurja, both board-certified electrophysiologists, had co-founded the Institute for Clinical Electrophysiology in 1993, and had been involved in developing continuing education courses for several years. They dreamed of combining all of the curricula they had developed into a Doctor of Electrophysiology program, but the Institute wasn’t authorized to award degrees, only certificates. Nielsen and Skurja began the process of obtaining authorization from the Utah State Board of Regents, and on June 8, 1998, The Institute for Clinical Electrophysiology officially became Rocky Mountain University of Physical Therapy and began offering a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program with seven specialty concentrations, including cardiopulmonology, electrophysiology, geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, sports, and pediatrics.
The following year, in 1999, instruction officially began with ten faculty, six employees, and eight students in the first class. Ninety students enrolled in the first year. In December 2000, Rocky Mountain University of Physical Therapy was registered as a developing institution with the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities for regional accreditation. That same year, RMUoHP began offering its Master of Science in Physical Therapy program and the university’s name was changed to Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP).
By 2003 RMUoHP had added the first post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program in the country. The University gained regional accreditation candidacy status in November 2005 and added a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program the following year. RMUoHP also expanded its OTD program to include specialty tracks, and began offering a Doctor of Science in Health Sciences program in 2007.
In May 2010 RMUoHP began offering a residency entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy program, and became the first proprietary graduate institution in the NW region to gain accreditation by the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities .
In 2014 RMUoHP began offering the first limited-residency model Doctor of Clinical Science in Speech-Language Pathology program. By the next year RMUoHP had also added its entry-level Master of Physician Assistant Studies, and in 2016 its entry-level Post-Bachelor’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (FNP) program, as well as a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program with a medical emphasis in 2017. RMUoHP is one of the pioneer institutions for Speech-Language Pathology with a medical emphasis.
RMUoHP now awards 10 master's and doctoral degrees and four graduate certificates and fellowships. As of spring 2018, RMUoHP has 2,021 alumni. In 2018, Wasatch Educational Group, the parent company of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, announced plans to break ground on a medical school, which will open in 2021.[5]
Campus
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is located in Provo, Utah, in the East Bay Technology Park. RMUoHP’s campus is 85,000 square feet, and sits at an elevation of 4,551 feet (1387 m).
Housing
All student housing is off-campus and generally includes apartments and houses for residential students and hotels for non-residential students. RMUoHP does not own, operate, or maintain housing facilities for students.
Academics
RMUoHP awards 10 graduate and doctoral degrees and 4 certificates and fellowships, including:
Master’s programs
- Master of Science in Health Science (MSHS)
- Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS)
- Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS SLP)
Doctoral programs
- Doctor of Science in Health Science (DSc)
- Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
- Post-Bachelor’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP/FNP)
- Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
- Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
- Doctor of Clinical Science in Speech-Language Pathology (ClinScD SLP)
- Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy in Pediatric Science (tDPT)
Certificate programs
- Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate (FNP Cert)
- Post-Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program (PMHNP)
- Learning Design in Healthcare Education Graduate Certificate (LDHE)
- Seattle Children’s Neonatology Fellowship
RMUoHP’s 2018 total enrollment was 775.[2] Approximately 61 percent of the student body comes from the Western United States, with the remaining 39 percent coming from the remaining states or out of the country. Since its inception, RMUoHP has awarded 2058 degrees and certificates, and has 2021 alumni.
Accreditation
RMUoHP is accredited by the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities.[1]
Philanthropy
Philanthropy is an integral part of RMUoHP’s education model. The university offers an elective course, titled the “Service Learning Course,” which allows students to earn school credit for hours spent volunteering. In addition, the university encourages its faculty to spend 20% of their time each week working in a volunteer or research capacity. RMUoHP President Richard Nielsen treats patients himself three mornings a week at RMUoHP’s pro-bono Community Rehabilitation Clinic.
RMUoHP Foundation
The mission of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Foundation (RMU Foundation) is dedicated to providing an environment that encourages and supports student and faculty research.[6] The mission of the foundation is “to advance the quality and accessibility of healthcare.” This mission has three main objectives:
- Serve the community through the Community Rehabilitation Clinic and other strategic initiatives.
- Foster and sponsor student and faculty research in healthcare-related fields.
- Collaborate with organizations that share this mission.
Learning Resource Center
The RMUoHP Foundation provides RMUoHP’s Learning Resource Center (LRC) with materials to assist students in their health science education as well as faculty and staff research. The LRC provides access to articles and journals, books, dissertations, and capstones, in addition to database and research assistance. Annual funding is directed to journal software, databases, electronic connections, and resource expansion efforts.
The Africa Humanitarian Mission
The Africa Humanitarian Mission was created in partnership with World of Difference in 2013 to help establish sustainable communities in Africa and to give African children a chance at a better life. The RMUoHP community participates in the mission in two key areas: education and health. For the last five years, RMUoHP students and staff have served needy populations in Kenya by building schools, training teachers, donating school supplies, and providing free healthcare in local clinics.
In 2016, the Mission donated over 18,000 service hours and packed and delivered 3,500 pounds of educational materials, medical supplies, and athletic equipment including 52 soccer balls, tools, blankets, first-aid supplies, and hygiene kits. Over 500 pounds of medical textbooks were donated to hospitals in Lilongwe and Blantyre, Malawi. Since the program’s inception, the Africa Humanitarian Mission and World of Difference have built 12 schools in Africa.
The Community Rehabilitation Clinic
The Community Rehabilitation Clinic (CRC) is the first pro-bono clinic of its kind in Utah County. It was opened in 2014 by Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions to serve the uninsured and underserved citizens of Utah County who suffer from orthopedic injuries, have undergone surgical correction for an orthopedic abnormality, or need rehabilitation therapy care due to age or disability.[7] The clinic was built using nearly $100,000 of community donations and is committed to remaining a free clinic where anyone can access high-quality care.
The clinic is located in Provo, Utah, and treats mostly patients with physical therapy needs. The staff is made up of licensed, qualified rehabilitation therapy practitioners who are assisted by RMUoHP’s Doctor of Physical Therapy students. The CRC has served over 5,000 patients since it opened its doors, and has been home to more than 1,200 volunteer hours by RMUoHP staff and students, pre-Physician Assistant and pre-Physical Therapy students from Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University, and other licensed PTs from the surrounding community.
RMUoHP Center for Communication Disorders
In 2017, the RMUoHP Foundation announced plans for the RMUoHP Center for Communication Disorders (CCD). The ribbon cutting ceremony was June 15, 2018. This new philanthropic arm assesses and treats members of the community with speech-language pathology needs, including speech sounds, language, voice and resonance, fluency, aural rehabilitation, social communication, augmentative and alternative communication, and swallowing. The clinic serves infants through geriatrics free of charge.
Clients are seen by graduate students in RMUoHP’s Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology program who are supervised by certified and licensed speech-language pathologists. In addition, the CCD operates several programs outside of the clinic in collaboration with the community, including an adult literacy program through Project Read at the Provo Library, and early literacy programming with the Early Head Start program in Orem, Utah.[8]
Research
The RMUoHP Foundation provides funding and support for student and faculty research in the field of health science. In 2018, RMUoHP launched and funded $19,960 worth of internal grants to faculty engaged in a wide range of research. Since the university’s inception, there have been over 800 peer-reviewed student and faculty articles in 260 publications.
Current faculty and student research efforts include projects related to clinical development, education, and clinical interventions. RMUoHP faculty are engaged in research designed to enhance cultural competency and examining the prevalence of evidence-based practice among recent alumni from RMUoHP. Other faculty are seeking to enhance clinical placement by examining the motivations of clinical educations. The university is engaged in interprofessional education whereby students from different disciplines collaborate to treat cases, and faculty are evaluating the effectiveness of this novel intervention. The university has invested in exciting technology to enhance clinical intervention research. For example, the MS in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program invested in an endoscope with high-fidelity recording capabilities that distinguishes itself from similar programs. Other faculty are engaged in various stages of research on disorders such as aphasia, dyslexia, and autistic spectrum disorder.
Office of Research and Sponsored Projects
In August 2017, RMUoHP established the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP).[9] ORSP’s purpose is to remove barriers for faculty and students to conduct innovative research that will enhance knowledge and provide evidence for better clinical practice.
References
- 1 2 "About RMUoHP". RMUoHP. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- 1 2 Dodson, Braley (9 June 2018). "Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions celebrates 20 years". Daily Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ↑ "Graduate Healthcare Degree Programs". RMUoHP. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ "About Wasatch Educational". Wasatch Educational. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ "Wasatch Educational to Begin Negotiating with Provo Mayor on Proposed Medical Education Campus". Wasatch Educational. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ "Projects". Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Foundation. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ Stevens, Keri Lunt (24 October 2014). "Rehabilitation clinic for non-insured opens in Provo". Daily Herald. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ "RMUoHP Opens Free Center for Communication Disorders". Wasatch Educational. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ "Office of Research". RMUoHP. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
Coordinates: 40°12′42″N 111°39′21″W / 40.21167°N 111.65583°W