Burrell College celebrates largest graduating class
The spring 2025 commencement ceremony took place on May 9 at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.
According to the news release by Burrell College, 151 graduating student doctors participated in the commencement ceremony, the largest graduating class of any regional medical school this year.
The keynote address was given by Dr. Kevin O'Connor, a retired U.S. Army colonel and the former White House physician to former Presidents Joe Biden and George W. Bush, Burrell College said.
'This commencement ceremony is more than a celebration — it's a testament to the resilience, determination, and heart of our students,' said John Hummer, president of Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. 'Each graduate represents not only years of rigorous training, but a deep commitment to improving the lives of others through medicine. We are proud to see them begin their careers as physicians, and we know they will carry forward Burrell's mission of serving underserved and rural communities across the country.'
Graduates from the Class of 2025 have matched into the following residency programs:
Allergy and immunology
Anesthesiology
Dermatology
Diagnostic radiology
Emergency medicine
Family medicine
Internal medicine
Medical genetics
Neurology
Neurosurgery
Nuclear medicine
Obstetrics and gynecology
Ophthalmology
Pathology
Pediatrics
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Preventive medicine
Psychiatry
Radiation oncology
Surgery
Urology
'Each of our graduates is a reflection of the academic excellence and community focus we champion at Burrell,' Dr. William Pieratt, executive vice president of Academic Services, dean and chief academic cfficer, said. 'Our mission is to graduate physicians who are not only clinically prepared but also culturally competent and deeply aware of the health challenges facing our communities. With our growing footprint in Florida and New Mexico, we are proud to educate the next generation of doctors who will make a lasting impact across the nation.'
According to Burrell College, since its founding in 2013, the college has graduated 862 physicians.
In July 2025, Burrell College opened its newest campus in Melbourne, Florida, to reflect the college's commitment to addressing the physician shortage in 'medically underserved regions.'
'Burrell College received the highest level of accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) — a Ten-Year Accreditation with Exceptional Outcome — affirming the College's unwavering commitment to the success of its student doctors,' the news release read.
For more information, you can visit Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine's website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he survived a stage 4 cancer battle that lasted more than a decade
Jerry Jones sometimes says too much about his Dallas Cowboys. His cancer battle for more than a decade remained a secret though. Jones told the Dallas Morning News that he beat stage 4 melanoma. The Cowboys owner's battle lasted more than a decade, he said, and included four surgeries. "I now have no tumors," Jones, who is 82 years old, told the Dallas Morning News. Jones told the Dallas Morning News the initial diagnosis came in 2010. Over the next 10 years he had four surgeries, two on his lungs and two on his lymph nodes. He credited the experimental drug PD-1 — short for Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 — for his recovery. 'I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle [drug] called PD-1 [therapy],' Jones said, via the Morning News. 'I went into trials for that PD-1 and it has been one of the great medicines." In an episode of the soon to be released Netflix series "America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys," Jones mentioned having cancer treatments, leading the Dallas Morning News to ask him about it in an interview. Jones is the NFL's most visible owner, and his Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise in the world. They're the first sports team to pass the $10 billion mark in Forbes' annual survey. In 2017 — when, according to Jones, he was still fighting stage 4 cancer — he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jones has no problem seeking out the media for attention on practically any matters regarding his team. But his long battle against cancer was out of the spotlight, until now.
Medscape
14 minutes ago
- Medscape
A Nurse in Every School?
As a school nurse, Traci Jones, RN, PhD, NCSN, handed out ice packs and bandages, but she also helped students manage chronic health conditions ranging from diabetes and asthma to seizure disorders and life-threatening allergies. 'There can't be an expectation that the teachers know how to identify healthcare issues,' said Jones, a school nurse administrator in Temple Hills, Maryland. '[There should be] a nurse in every school.' School nurses oversee case management, assist with individualized education plans for students with disabilities; implement public health strategies for immunizations, natural disasters, and school violence; and connect families with community health resources. Despite the essential role that school nurses play in ensuring the safety and well-being of schoolchildren, a growing number of districts do not have enough nurses to meet student needs. Data from the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) found that just 65% of schools had access to a registered nurse (RN), licensed practical nurse (LPN), or licensed vocational nurse. About Medscape Data Medscape continually surveys physicians and other medical professionals about key practice challenges and current issues, creating high-impact analyses. For example, the Medscape RN/LPN Job Market Report 2025 found that Both RNs and LPNs younger than 45 years were slightly more motivated to job search than older nurses. About 6 in 10 RNs and LPNs checked out a potential new job within the past 3 years. About 1 in 6 nurses don't think they have much negotiating power when it comes to getting a new job offer. Although 20 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, require K-12 schools to have a school nurse, students in other states often lack access to healthcare in school. Rural areas and districts in the Midwest and West employed the fewest number of school nurses, according to NASN. The Nurses for Under-Resourced Schools Everywhere (NURSE) Act was recently reintroduced in an effort to increase healthcare access in education. The legislation aims to establish a federal grant program to help Title I schools where at least 20% of students are enrolled in free- or reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs to hire and retain school nurses. 'The NURSE Act recognizes the critical role of school nurses in providing students with access to quality healthcare so they can be healthy, safe, and ready to learn,' explained NASN president-elect Pat Endsley, PhD, RN, NCSN, FNASN. More Than Bandages and Ice Packs Injuries, illnesses, and disabilities lead to chronic school absences for almost 6% of school-aged children, and school nurses can help manage acute and chronic illnesses that are linked with poor attendance. In schools without a school nurse, 18% of students were sent home for illnesses or injuries compared with just 5% of students in schools with a school nurse. School nurses don't just affect absenteeism. Studies have found that students with access to school nurses experience better management of chronic conditions and improved academic outcomes, too. 'Sometimes we're just that place where students can come for some reassurance…Sometimes they just need 5 minutes to come in and decompress before going back to class,' Endsley said. 'We're a safe place [and] our goal is getting that student back to class and getting the most out of their education.' However, providing healthcare and safe spaces in schools comes at a cost. On average, the cost of having an LPN in a school nursing program was $115,707 per school year at a time when US schools are facing their biggest budget crunch in years. Funding for school nurses comes from a patchwork of sources, including the federal Department of Education, Medicaid, state health departments, and grants. The patchwork approach leads to disparities in resources between states and even among school districts. Cuts to Medicaid and uncertainty about the future of the Board of Education could also affect the number of nurses in schools today. The expiration of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic led to severe implications in school districts that included job cuts and loss of critical programming, including the loss of school nurses. 'Schools got COVID funds to hire a lot of school nurses, but…after those funds expired, not very many schools made those positions permanent,' said Endsley. While previous recommendations from organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested a ratio of one school nurse for every 750 students, it's considered an outdated standard, according to Endsley. Instead, she believes districts should conduct ongoing assessments to determine student needs and inform hiring decisions. A school with 500 students but few chronic health conditions might need just one school nurse, while a less populated school with a higher proportion of students with ongoing medical needs might need two (or more) nurses, she explained. But there is more to addressing the school nurse shortage than coming up with student-to-nurse ratios. Changing Perceptions Hiring school nurses is challenging. Misconceptions about the role of school nurses and burnout are among the biggest reasons that 50% of RNs and LPNs leave school nursing in 3-6 months. 'Most people don't know what school nurses do,' said Jones. 'I've had people tell me, 'You sit at the desk all day and hand out candy.'' The perception that school nursing is all about 'Band-Aids, ice, and lice' prevents school nurses from entering the profession — but the RNs who work in school settings appreciate some of the perks: There are no weekend, rotating, or overnight shifts, and many school nurses work 10 months of the year, leading to better work-life balance. There are challenges, too. School nurses experience significant pay disparities. NASN data show that just 34% of school nurses make more than $60,000 per year compared with almost 70% of the total RN workforce. This often forces school nurses to pick up additional shifts in hospitals and clinics, Jones added. The workforce also tends to be older — more than two-thirds of school nurses are over 40 — and retire sooner, leading to greater turnover. The role is also best suited to mid-career nurses. Jones calls it 'grassroots nursing.' 'You have blood pressure cuffs and a stethoscope, and your own knowledge, judgment and skill set,' she added. 'You're usually the only medical expert in the building, and you need a solid foundation.' However, when RNs work in schools, sick and injured students aren't the only ones who benefit. Schools with full-time nurses receive an average return on investment of $1.59 for every dollar invested as well as significant savings in teacher, secretary, principal, and parent productivity — and the community benefits, too. 'School nurses really are an integral part of the whole education system,' Endsley said. 'We work in partnership with our school community, with our teachers, our administrators, but also with the community at large.'
New York Times
16 minutes ago
- New York Times
With Deep N.I.H. Cuts, Research Into Health Disparities Falters
The federal government has for decades invested vigorously in research aimed at narrowing the health gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups, pouring billions of dollars into understanding why minority and low-income Americans have shorter lives and suffer higher rates of illnesses like cancer and heart disease. Spending on so-called health disparities rose even during the Trump administration's first term. But in its second, much of the funding has come to a sudden halt. Following a series of executive orders prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion policies at every level of the federal government, the National Institutes of Health this year began terminating initiatives that officials said smacked of identity politics and offered dubious benefits. 'Spending billions on divisive, politically driven D.E.I. initiatives that don't deliver results is not just bad health policy — it's bad government,' said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. The N.I.H will invest in projects that support 'all vulnerable populations,' and expand participation 'based on clinical need — not identity,' she added. She declined to be identified. In letters from the N.I.H., scientists were told that their projects were canceled because they 'harm the health of Americans,' 'provide a low return on investment,' or 'do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
