MGH Institute Continues to Grow in the Navy Yard

The popularity of -- a school in the Navy Yard -- has continued to grow. In the past seven years, officials say student enrollment has almost doubled. 
 
A total of 1,111 students started the fall term at the Charlestown campus this month. They're studying nursing, physical therapy, communication sciences and disorders, medical imaging, and other health care profession courses. That’s an 83 percent increase from the 612 students who attended the graduate school in the 2005-2006 school year, according to a recent release from the school.

What's accounting for the growth, even through the down economy? The release cites a few factors:

• Several new degrees have been added, including a Doctor of Nursing Practice for current nurses, and a 14-month Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing for any college graduate. (The nursing program is so popular that a second yearly group of 85 students will begin in January 2012.)
• Other degrees in related fields are also under consideration to be added in the coming years. 
• And the school’s continued academic reputation continues to attract college graduates who are looking to change their career.

President Janis P. Bellack, PhD, RN, FAAN cited the pending retirement of much of the country’s health care workers, the aging of the Baby Boom generation, and anticipated changes stemming from the recent health care reform legislation as other indications the future of the MGH Institute is bright. 
 
“There is going to be a tremendous demand for new health care professionals in the coming years, and the MGH Institute has positioned itself to help meet that need,” she said. 

MGH Institute of Health Professions, founded by Massachusetts General Hospital in 1977, is an independent graduate school in Boston that operates within the framework of Partners HealthCare.