Earlier this summer, students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice adult gerontology acute care program piloted an end-of-life training scenario unlike anything they had previously encountered in the University’s Metro Annex Safe Hospital. The twist? Students weren’t just caring for a simulated patient in the mock clinical setting. They also had to navigate a phone conversation with the patient’s daughter, which was played not by a faculty member or actor, but by artificial intelligence.
UTC, Siskin Hospital expand partnership with new geriatric PT residency
UTC’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation are expanding their collaborative partnership with the creation of a Geriatric PT Residency Program—one of just two of its kind in Tennessee.
With ‘Adaptive Tai Chi,’ UTC’s Zibin Guo shares 20 years of wisdom in motion
Dr. Zibin Guo has spent more than two decades exploring how ancient traditions can help address the challenges of modern life. That research is now the subject of his second book, “Adaptive Tai Chi: An Accessible Practice for Empowering Body and Mind,” which will be available in July.
Rolling relief: A day on the road with UTC’s MobileMOC health team
MobileMOC—an outreach health clinic on wheels—is designed to provide health care access for older adults in local rural communities, offering services such as preventive care, screenings, chronic disease management and social services.
UTC to launch psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program
The UTC School of Nursing will launch a new Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program this fall to help meet urgent workforce needs across the region and state. The PMHNP concentration, part of UTC’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, offers two pathways: a full-time, eight-semester post-BSN track for students pursuing a doctoral degree and a five-semester post-graduate certificate for advanced practice registered nurses who already hold a master’s degree.
UTC’s I-O psychology conference celebrates two decades of impact
For 20 years, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Psychology has hosted the River Cities Industrial-Organizational Psychology Conference (RCIO), where people across the country come to learn about I-O psychology and opportunities available to those who decide to pursue human resources and other related fields.
UTC professor earns patent for new tech blending rehab and robotics
Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu, who heads the Department of Engineering Management and Technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has secured his first U.S. design patent for a pneumatically powered balance board designed to support patients with chronic lower back pain or those recovering from injury or surgery.
New research by UTC sociologist challenges one-size-fits-all intervention models
Changing behavior is hard. Changing identity—especially the deeply ingrained ideas of what it means to “be a man”—is even harder. Dr. Chris Vidmar, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, explored that challenge in a recent ethnographic study of court-mandated intervention programs for abusive and controlling men.
From holistic healer to social worker, Lori Coletta’s path to purpose
As advanced degree recipients from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Graduate School crossed the McKenzie Arena stage on Friday, May 2, one in particular stood out—not because of a number, but because of her story. At 62 years of age, Lori Coletta accepted her Master of Social Work degree—a moment of “legitimacy” marking the culmination of a decades-long path rooted in advocacy, exploration and the pursuit of purpose.
A small grant, a big idea and a lot of UTC support
It started at Thanksgiving dinner. Megan Cales watched her partner’s 5-year-old son—who is autistic—struggle to manage his voice in a noisy room full of family. She searched online for a discreet, wearable tool that might help him self-regulate. Nothing existed. She made a mental note and moved on. Then, an email from the University of…









