The newly created Erlanger Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency involves licensed physical therapist residents serving as clinical instructors for UTC physical therapy students during clinical rotations and assisting with teaching didactic coursework in the University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program—with an emphasis on acute care. The residency curriculum, developed collaboratively by Erlanger clinicians and UTC faculty, includes both live patient care and didactic instruction.
Breaking barriers: UTC pre-health students earn free CMA certification and paid experience at Erlanger
For pre-health students at UTC, finding time for unpaid hospital shadowing or volunteer work while holding down a job can be a challenge. A new partnership between the UTC CPE and Erlanger Baroness Hospital is helping to eliminate that barrier.
UTC’s Megan McKnight honored by White House for leadership in opioid overdose prevention
On Tuesday, Oct. 8, UTC Center for Wellbeing Director Megan McKnight was invited to a Washington, D.C., summit hosted by the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose event honored McKnight and nearly 250 other stakeholders for expanding access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication and reducing preventable drug overdose deaths.
Hands-on learning: UTC communication classes collaborate with local nonprofits for public relations projects
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Communication is partnering with 10 local nonprofits to help students gain real work experience outside the classroom. Lecturer David Norman and Assistant Professor Tony Cepak are the two UTC faculty members leading the course, which is a combination of Public Relations Campaigns and Publication Design II classes. The 40 students in the course are divided into 10 groups of four and are assigned a nonprofit to work with throughout the semester.
Tying it together: Recent UTC graduate merges math and science to research knot theory and neurodegenerative diseases
In August 2024, Masumi Sugiyama received a Ph.D. in computational science with an applied mathematics concentration. Her research focused on knot theory, which she used to study neurodegenerative diseases.
Champion for mental health: UTC’s Amy Kyriakidis recognized for suicide prevention efforts
Amy Kyriakidis, assistant director for suicide education and prevention in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Center for Wellbeing, has been recognized for her exceptional contributions to suicide prevention in Tennessee. She recently received the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) Southeast Regional Suicide Prevention Award, an honor created by TSPN co-founders Madge and Ken Tullis “to acknowledge innovation and excellence in the state’s suicide prevention awareness efforts.”
Fast track to cyber success: How an email changed a UTC student’s career trajectory
Trevor Lessenberry was sitting on the beach during the summer of 2023, mobile phone in hand, when an email popped up and showed him his future. The message described the UTC accelerated Bachelor of Applied Science: Information Technology in Cybersecurity, or BAS-IT CyS, program—which launched in January 2023.
UTC’s May nursing graduates achieve 100% pass rate on licensure exam
Every May 2024 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduate has passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) on the first attempt, fulfilling the requirement for licensure as a registered nurse.
Meet the Murillos: Husband and wife connecting UTC students to other cultures
Throughout their teaching journeys, Edwin and Krysta Murillo have lived by a Mark Twain quote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
HHP Sports Lab prepares students for careers through hands-on learning and community partnership
The Health and Human Performance Sports Lab is setting the stage for students to dive deep into careers in sports science, exercise physiology and public health. Through a collaboration with Fast Break Athletics, a local running specialty store, the lab offers hands-on learning opportunities that translate into real-world skills—all while strengthening Chattanooga’s fitness community.