Students apply sensors to another student's legs to record measurements in the Motion Analysis Lab.
Home School of Health Sciences

Why School of Health Sciences?

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Overview

Preparation for the future of health care

As health care needs in our society continue to evolve, Quinnipiac’s School of Health Sciences remains one step ahead with programs that not only address today’s most pressing medical concerns, but anticipate tomorrow’s challenges as well. Our extensive list of majors, certificate programs and dual-degree options means that, regardless of where you are in your educational or professional journey, we will help you reach your long-term goals.

Quinnipiac’s nationally ranked programs also stand out thanks to facilities and resources that offer unparalleled opportunities for hands-on learning and collaboration. Partnerships with leading medical institutions nationwide provide you with the chance to make extraordinary connections. Our professors bring decades of combined experience to the classroom. Many, in fact, continue to practice and shape their field on the national level. From day one, their focus is on you. Yours will be on the people and the communities you’ll one day heal and strengthen.            

A student points to a screen on an ultrasound machine while another student looks on. The keyboard is aglow.

An inside look

Diagnostic imaging student Gianna Liuzzi demonstrates how to use the cardiac ultrasound to a group of medical students in the Standardized Patient Assessment Center. Being located in the Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences allows our students many opportunities to learn from and teach their peers from complementary health care disciplines.

Thanks to longstanding partnerships around the world, students can participate in short-term global engagement programs.  Collaborating with local community members, students learn about health care systems and, in some cases, engage in hands-on activities in countries such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua and the Philippines. 

Photograph

Brittney Ryan '19 sits at a table in a classroom with two young students reading books.

All smiles

Occupational therapy student Brittney Ryan '19, volunteers with kindergarten students at Church Street School in Hamden.

Our Students

Active, dedicated and leading the way

At Quinnipiac, you'll join a diverse student body that shares two common traits: passion for their studies and take charge work-ethic both inside and outside the classroom.

Our students earn grants and conduct important research. They teach healthy habits at public schools in Connecticut, present at major industry associations and study abroad at other top-notch science schools in Ireland, Spain and Australia.

Additionally, working in such close proximity to nursing and medical students offers something many universities do not: regular opportunities for interprofessional collaboration and research, and early exposure to a team-based atmosphere. This is an important dynamic that we believe prepares our students for the nuances of working in modern health care. 

Students and a professor wearing coats and gowns hold a newborn simulation mannequin.

Practical experiences

Physician assistant students deliver a baby in the simulation suite alongside nursing students as part of our emphasis on interprofessional learning. Pictured, from left, are Adult Gerontology Doctor of Nursing Practice student Paul Fidrych, DNP ’20; Associate Professor of Nursing Karen Myrick; Clinical Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Magdalena Lukaszewicz; and Master’s Physician Assistant student Caroline Selting, MHS ’19.

Rankings

Ranked with the best

The Princeton Review continually names Quinnipiac among the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education. Health science graduate programs also are singled out by other sources, including U.S. News & World Report, which ranked our physician assistant program No. 5 in the nation, and placed the occupational therapy program among the top 25.

In addition, many of our programs routinely have the best pass rates in the country on national certification exams.

100%

2016 PA Pass Rate

Physician assistant students who have passed the certification exam on the first attempt.

100%

2016 AT Pass Rate

Athletic training students who have passed the Board of Certification, Inc. (BOC) exam on the first attempt.

In their Words: Video Profile of Pat Charmel '81

From student to hospital CEO

Pat Charmel '81 has led the transformation of Griffin Hospital from a health care facility on the decline to one the community respects and trusts. His career successes stem from the Quinnipiac professors who put him in touch with to the hospital administration more than 30 years ago. "That's something that Quinnipiac does: Take a personal interest in its students — and it's made a difference for me."

What our Graduates are Doing

Healthy careers, satisfying lives

Our students go on to rewarding careers in a range of fields and settings. Graduates of our clinical programs work as practitioners in major medical centers and small town clinics from coast to coast. Our athletic training and physical therapy grads can be seen on the sidelines of professional and college level sports games, while others work as educators in universities, forensic pathology labs, research labs and biotech companies.

Over 96% of our recent graduates are either employed or pursuing advanced degrees within six months of graduation. Many programs, including occupational therapy and physician assistant, enjoy a 100% job placement rate. About one-third of our undergraduates go directly to graduate school. While many choose to continue their education at Quinnipiac, some other institutions our graduates have attended included those listed below.

Physical therapist stretches the arm of a patient in a clinical office.

Emphasis on patient outcomes

Quinnipiac physical therapy alumnus Ryan Van Nieuwenhuyze ’15, DPT ’16, works at Prolete Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine with a patient on an exercise as part of her recovery from a car accident.

Examples of where our graduates work

  • Boston Children’s Hospital
  • Boston Red Sox
  • CVS Health
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Magrabi Dental Centers (Saudi Arabia)
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • MidState Medical Center
  • Stanford University
  • Yale-New Haven Hospital

Examples of where our graduates attend graduate school

  • Cornell University
  • Hofstra University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • New York University
  • Northeastern University
  • Quinnipiac University
  • Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
  • University of Kentucky
  • University of Virginia
  • Washington State University
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Alumni Spotlight

Quinnipiac alumnus helps patient walk pain-free

One look at the young woman’s legs and Dr. Michael Campbell ’99 knew he was viewing the most severe case of rickets he’d ever seen.

The patient, 44-inch-tall Natasha Christian, was born with Vitamin D-resistant rickets, also called X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), which caused her legs to bow severely. Despite multiple surgeries since childhood, the 35-year-old mother of two has endured constant pain and stress fractures in both of her femurs and walked with a waddling gait.

Campbell and five other orthopedic physicians from around the country had been invited to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in January to learn how to perform surgeries on complex deformity patients using innovative technology newly approved by the FDA. Campbell is the first surgeon to use the Orthofix TrueLok Hexapod external fixator to correct deformities in a patient’s femur and tibia at the same time.

Dr. Michael A. Campbell '99 at his practice in Chesapeake, VA.

Groundbreaking treatment

Dr. Michael A. Campbell '99 at his practice in Chesapeake, VA.

“Nothing else would have worked for her,” said Campbell, 38, who graduated from Quinnipiac with a bachelor’s in physical therapy and went on to earn an MD at State University of New York-Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. Campbell narrated the 5½-hour procedure as he worked so the Orthofix company could use it to educate others. Footage from the surgery was used by a local TV news station in a reporting segment it did on the procedure.

Besides straightening Christian’s legs, Campbell leveled her joints and hopes to give her a three- to four-inch gain in height.

In their Words

Physician assistant Christina Notarino '12, MHS '14, examines a baby on an exam table

Big impact on little people

Physician assistant Christina Notarino '12, MHS '14, examines her five-month-old patient Elijah S. at Children's Medical Group in Hamden, Connecticut

“I chose Quinnipiac due to its outstanding reputation in the medical field. Quinnipiac showed me how hard work and dedication are essential to successfully entering the ‘real world.’ Being able to find a great college and my dream job just 10 miles away from my hometown means everything to me.”
Christina Notarino '12, MHS '14
School of Health Sciences
“For years I worked with a boy with cerebral palsy and through my work with him I was able to see the positive impact occupational therapy had on his life. That’s when I decided to become an OT. I am very passionate about helping people live their lives to the fullest.”
Micah Cutler ’18, MHS ’20
Occupational therapy student

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