Milligan is Making Healthy Choices
By: Sydney Franklin
Of the 30 undergraduate majors and three graduate programs offered at Milligan, the health-related fields have become the most popular in recent years. Students in these majors are refining their skills by participating in Milligan’s liberal arts foundation.
Strength in liberal arts as well as health sciences are not competing, but are complimentary.
“I see the two as married, not different,” said registrar Sue Skidmore. “Employers and graduate programs like to see people come from liberal arts colleges because they have developed critical thinking and problem solving skills.”
Of the 984 undergraduate students at Milligan last fall, 244 students enrolled as nursing majors and 98 as HPXS majors. Occupational therapy was the largest graduate degree program on campus with 90 students enrolled.
“More people are pursuing these fields, but all are supported by our liberal arts foundation,” said President Bill Greer.
With this foundation, students are prepared for a lifetime of service focused on more than one job in particular.
Milligan is well known for its competitive nursing program, established in 1992. Enrollment steadily rose year to year until 2006 when it jumped from 87 students to 109 students.
“We want all students, especially our nurses to be able to think creatively at every moment,” said Director of Nursing Melinda Collins. “The best nursing students come through the humanities program.”
The humanities program challenges students in history, philosophy, religion and art in order to better prepare them to work open-mindedly in their future career.
Professor of Humanities Dr. Patricia Magness noted that nursing majors in humanities courses are self-motivated, goal-oriented and focused on critical thinking.
“Milligan nurses become familiar with different cultures, in turn making them well-rounded.” Magness said. “In hospitals, they are the immediate decision makers and analyze the situations they are put in.”
“Humanities has made me realize that all people think differently,” said sophomore nursing student Kelly Chism. “If you don’t take that into account then your attempt to help them will fail.”
It is no secret that the demand for nurses in the United States has skyrocketed in recent years. Milligan is catering to this national popularity.
“It is good thinking on our part to have programs responding to needs in the U.S. today, particularly the aging population,” said Skidmore. “The country is looking for ways to improve the ability to live well and into and older age.”
Milligan’s HPXS program is another program paralleling national popularity. It has grown because of the cultural emphasis on sports and fitness/wellness industries.
“As the cost of health care rises, there are more incentives from various directions for people to pay more attention to their health and fitness,” said Dr. John Simonsen,
associate professor of HPXS.
Students are paying attention to the job market and the national demand for nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and doctors, etc. Milligan is doing the same by providing students with training in top health-related fields.
“This popularity confirms that our liberal arts foundation is applicable to all professions,” said Dr. Garland Young, interim academic dean.
Young and Milligan faculty are currently discussing new ways to meet the growth of our popular programs. Milligan needs more space and more professors as enrollment grows.
“It is a problem, but a great problem to have,” Young said.
The school is also looking to add more professional programs such as a Masters of Science in Counseling or Physicians Assistant training.
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