(RMUoHP) celebrated the graduation of 117 graduate students in various healthcare specialty programs Dec. 11, including program certificates, master’s degrees, and doctoral degree candidates, during a virtual commencement ceremony.
“During this virtual ceremony, we honor not only our graduates,” said founding university president, Dr. Richard P. Nielsen. “We honor their friends, their family members, their spouses, their significant others, parents, siblings, and children – those who are the proudest of these graduates. We honor them for being there for these graduates. For encouraging them and for being a source of strength for them. For drying their tears and for pushing them down the field as they became discouraged by the rigors of these graduate healthcare programs. These graduates would not be in the seats in which they sit today without each of you.”
RMUoHP graduates represented the following academic programs:
- Master of Science in Health Science – Rehabilitative Science (MSHS)
- Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
- Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc)
- Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
- Doctor of Speech-Language Pathology (SLPD)
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate (PMHDNP)
- Doctor of Nursing Practice – Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences (PhD)
Dr. Jessica Egbert, Chief Innovation Officer at RBM Services, was the keynote speaker for the commencement. Referring to the difficulties befalling everyone in 2020, Egbert said to graduates, “Against some of the highest stacked odds, YOU managed to complete your graduate education. You are here.”
Egbert said 2020 needs no theme or tagline; it is a theme unto itself. “The phrase, let your faith be bigger than your fear, inspires me,” she said.
According to Egbert, faith in a higher power or yourselves flexes the mental muscles resulting in expanded confidence and bolstered self-efficacy helping future goal achievement have a positive relationship with historic success. “Because you are here right now despite unprecedented circumstances, you are spring-loaded to achieve your future goals. With an ounce of faith, your future, like a spring, goes from potential to kinetic. Remember, you did it, and since we are all about being evidence-based, that evidence proves you can do it again. Have faith. Bet on yourself!” she said.
Egbert also said, speaking on overcoming fear, that graduates now armed with self-efficacy will find it easier to face challenges and opportunities head-on. “This year is one where I have witnessed profound bravery,” she said. “Regardless of my alignment with any political or social position, the historical moments of Hamiltonian rising have been intensely emotional. If you’re like me, your soul is fatigued by the highs and lows that came with 2020 and its introspection.”
She said sports psychologists point out that reality and productivity lie in the present. Guilt, regret, and anxiety reside in the past and the future. The Serenity Prayer says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Egbert says fear is an emotion that exists when we are focused only on long-term outcomes. “While there is nothing wrong with seeing the forest, we should not linger among the clouds and miss a tree’s beauty altogether. Micro objectives are achievable every day when we break down our long-term goals into daily habits,” she said.
“Because of you, lives will be changed for the better. For our time, you will challenge systems, create and disseminate new knowledge, refocus on the humanity of healthcare, prioritize prevention, and make equitable access to life-saving treatments. Use your light to light the flames of others and embrace your role in healthcare as a vehicle to fly,” said Egbert. “I have the highest regard for each of you and wish you all the greatest happiness. Congratulations.”
The commencement was a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, faculty, families, and staff all joined online to view the ceremony. The ceremony is also available to view at any time at https://youtu.be/zCJXW48sjnc .
About Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
Founded in 1998 and located in Provo, Utah, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is an accredited institution by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting commission recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. RMUoHP offers exclusively graduate healthcare evidence-based, high-quality, and outcomes oriented doctoral degree, master’s degree, certification and continuing education programs in a number of specialty areas, www.rm.edu
