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Graduating College of Health Professions students proceed in a long line up to the Statehouse Convention Center stage at the start of the college's May 16 commencement ceremony.

College of Health Professions Celebrates College’s Largest Graduating Class Ever

May 29, 2025 | Although the College of Health Professions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is more than 50 years old, the college celebrated its first college-wide commencement ceremony on May 16..

With 643 graduating students, the ceremony was the largest among UAMS’ five colleges and graduate school, each of which held separate graduation celebrations. More than 1,100 students graduated in the last university-wide commencement in 2024.

“This year’s event is a little different and makes a little bit of UAMS history,” Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief strategy officer, said at the college’s commencement. “We have outgrown the facilities in the region able to accommodate an event the size that our all-University commencement had grown to. We now have the chance to create new traditions while still celebrating the accomplishments of our graduates. And there is a lot to celebrate today.”

The College of Health Professions itself is growing with 60 more graduating students than the year before, and with a 100% employment rate after graduation, the big class of 2025 has a bright future ahead.

The provost introduced the college’s Dean Susan Long, Ed.D., who noted some of the accomplishments of students in the college’s varied programs during the academic year. She said:

• Physician Assistant Studies students raised a record-setting $14,000 through the program’s annual Hero Against Hunger 5K, with proceeds helping the Arkansas Food Bank to feed thousands of hungry Arkansas children.
• Radiologic Imaging Sciences students collectively completed over 1,600 clinical hours in a variety of settings. Many of these students volunteer to provide imaging services to patients at the UAMS 12^th Street Health and Wellness Center.
• Students in the on-campus Medical Laboratory Sciences program achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the national certification exam, among those who have taken the exam. And students in the Medical Laboratory Technician to Medical Laboratory Sciences, or MLT-to-MLS degree advancement program, represent 46 U.S. states.
• Dental hygiene students collectively completed over 27,000 clinical hours in the program and provided oral health care to more than 3,600 patients in the UAMS Dental Hygiene Clinic. All 35 of these graduates passed their clinical board exam on the first attempt.
• Dietetic students completed nutrition capstone research projects that were presented at the Arkansas Dietetics and Nutrition Annual Meeting.
• Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences students collectively completed 23,000 clinical hours at 46 clinical affiliates across five states, serving areas without access to nuclear medicine imaging education.
• Diagnostic Medical Sonography students exhibited “exceptional motivation and determination,” Long said, to complete the ultrasound physics portion of their national certification exam prior to graduation, which is a requirement. They all passed on the first attempt.
• Genetic Counseling students collectively provided genetic counseling services to more than 1,800 patients in a variety of areas to include prenatal, pediatric, adult, cancer and laboratory genetics.
• Cytology students collectively completed clinical hours in 11 cities across seven states, including regions of the country where cytologists are in extremely short supply. They extended the program’s impact to communities, where their expertise in early cancer detection and diagnosis is both vital and far-reaching.
• Speech Language Pathology students collectively completed over 13,000 clinical hours, providing services to clients of all ages in a variety of settings including hospitals, outpatient facilities, rehabilitation facilities, schools, skilled nursing facilities and private practices.
• Respiratory Care students completed more than 800 clinical hours in acute care, neonatal, pediatric, critical care and 10 additional specialty areas. These graduates also earned credentials in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Neonatal Resuscitation and Pediatric Advanced Life Support.
• Physical Therapy students completed over 1,300 hours of community service. Among this cohort are two students who were chosen as recipients of the Arkansas Physical Therapy Underserved Community Service Scholarship awarded by the Arkansas Board of Physical Therapy.
• Audiology students demonstrated a strong commitment to service, Long said. The graduates served nationally in student organizations with the American Academy of Audiology and the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, and they also presented their research at state and national conferences.

After Long’s remarks, Gardner formally conferred the degrees on each of the students, and Tina Maddox, Ph.D., associate dean of the college, announced the start of the “traditional diploma walk” to the stage.

Following the walk, and with her own Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders degree in hand, Jasmin De Maria Martinez delivered remarks on behalf of the graduates.

“I dedicate this speech to everyone who worked tirelessly to be here today, anyone who has fought for an education, first generation college students, and immigrant families,” she said. “Wherever and whomever you represent and identify with, we hear you and we see you. And we must not, and we will not take this opportunity for granted. So, take a deep breath. This is your moment. You get to write the next chapter.”