Moms to Get Mother's Day Present a Day Early

BOSTON--MGH Institute of Health Professions

"It's been a life-changing experience attending the Institute"
What:
MGH Institute of Health Professions Commencement

When:
Saturday, May 8, 2010

Time:
2 p.m. start, ends by 3:45 p.m. Photos of mothers and children after 3:45 p.m.

Where:
Hynes Convention Center, Veterans Auditorium, 2nd Floor

Summary:
Boston's health sciences graduate school will graduate more than 350 people with degrees and certificates in nursing, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, clinical investigation, medical imaging, and reading.

Most graduates are career-changers, and more than two dozen are mothers who will have their children in attendance, making for a good "Mom got her present a day early" angle.

When her oldest daughter would call home during the past year to describe her college workload, it wasn't that Jeanne Cunningham didn't want to listen.

She just didn't have any extra time to spare.

That's because Cunningham was immersed in her own academic program as an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) student in the School of Nursing at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.

"I understood what she was going through, but I didn't have a lot of time since I was so busy," said Cunningham.

Cunningham will be one of dozens of mothers who graduate from Boston's health sciences graduate school on Saturday, May 8 at the Hynes Convention Center. A total of 353 students will receive their degree or certificate in nursing, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, medical imaging, clinical investigation, and reading.

For the Central Massachusetts resident, it was a challenge raising two teenage daughters while attending graduate school after an extended absence from the academic world. But she was one of several older students who brought a different perspective to class.

"We didn't have to learn how to hold babies, or how to amuse a three-year-old," she said. "We had these real-life skills that we were able to share with the younger students in the program. Some of them were new mothers with infants so they really appreciated it."

The Institute's programs are composed of a mix of students who are either right out of college or a couple of years removed, with older students who are making a career change. All students must have a bachelor's degree to apply.

Like Cunningham, who had worked in the advancement office at Tufts Veterinary School for several years prior to starting the 14-month fast track program last May.

"It's been a life-changing experience attending the Institute," she noted. "I began the program thinking I wanted to do labor and delivery, but I was exposed to so many other things during our clinical rotations that I now know there are many more things I might want to do as a nurse."

The Institute's student population has grown to 940 students in the past few years as more people are drawn to return to school to change their career and to help alleviate the severe shortage of health care professionals.

The MGH Institute will confer the following number of degrees and certificates:

Doctorate - 107

Master of Science - 133

Bachelor of Science - 85

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - 12

Certificate of Advanced Study - 16

Edward O'Neill, PhD, Director of the Center for Health Professions, and Professor at the University of California San Francisco, will give the keynote address.

An academic affiliate founded in 1977 by Massachusetts General Hospital and part of Partners HealthCare, the MGH Institute was recently listed as the 23rd largest graduate school in Greater Boston by the Boston Business Journal.