02/11/2024

Ohio Dominican University Receives $1M+ in Choose Ohio First Scholarship Funding

By Cameron Powell, MPAS, PA-C
Chair, Health Science Division and Program Director, PA Studies

The Ohio Dominican University PA Program announces exciting news regarding strides toward positive impacts on diversity in its PA Program and the Ohio PA workforce.

In an effort to strengthen Ohio’s competitiveness within STEM disciplines, the Ohio Department of Higher Education launched the Choose Ohio First (COF) Scholarship program to offer grants to Ohio institutions to award scholarships for eligible students studying in STEM and medical programs. Ohio Dominican University has received previous COF awards of nearly $600,000 for undergraduate scholarships for STEM program students.

In the Fall of 2023, the ODU PA Program received over $1 million in funds over five years. These funds are available to eligible ODU PA students from underrepresented groups as tuition scholarships and will diversify the PA workforce in Ohio. Beginning in the Fall semester of 2024, these scholarships have an opportunity to impact as many as 75 PA students over the next 5 years.

Established in 2012, ODU’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies was the first PA program in Central Ohio. In December of 2023, ODU graduated its tenth cohort of PA students, bringing the total number of graduates to nearly 500 with a 97% program graduation rate. Find out more at on ODU's website.

Do you have exciting news to share? OAPA is always looking to celebrate the successes of our members and the Ohio PA community. Please send your news releases to oapa@ohiopa.com to be considered for featuring in a future web posting.