PROFILE

Betty Sue McGarvey, Ph.D.

President, Baptist Memorial College of Health Services

Betty Sue McGarvey has worked in the Medical Center since the late 1970’s, graduating with a nursing degree and securing a position as a staff nurse at Baptist Memorial Hospital. She held a variety of clinical roles during her tenure of service before moving on to instructional and administrative roles for the hospital. As a member of the planning team for Baptist College of Health Sciences, she has held both a Director and Provost position at the institution. In 2002, Betty Sue received her Doctor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In 2005 Dr. McGarvey became only the second President of the Baptist College of Health Sciences.

As the healthcare industry faces a growing shortage of nurses and allied health professionals, Dr. McGarvey and her team have successfully implemented strategies that have grown enrollment and graduation rates of students. Staying ahead of the healthcare learning curve is critical to providing a well rounded education for the students. Dr McGarvey notes that “it is important to continually evaluate our curriculum to assure that we are providing the needed skills and knowledge for today’s health care professionals. They will face complex clinical and ethical situations every day in their practices, and it is important that their education provide them with the competencies required to address those situations.”

Specifically, the College has focused on integrating technology into the learning environment and providing a sound foundation of science and math in the curriculum. Through a generous grant from the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation, the College recently purchased advanced simulation mannequins that provide opportunities for students to learn from “real-world” scenarios before applying those same decision making skills in the clinical setting. A Department of Education Title III grant provided funds to open a learning center focused on strengthening the preparation of students in the foundational areas of sciences and math.

Potential students come to the College through a variety of sources, but most cite reputation and learning within a Christian environment as the primary reasons. McGarvey proudly notes that “97% of all graduates pass their licensing or registry examinations on the first attempt. The excellent medical facilities available in Memphis and the cutting edge learning experiences they provide for our students are essential for obtaining such outcomes.”

Dr. McGarvey is Chairman of the Board for the Memphis Medical Center, an initiative aimed at creating the cleanest, greenest and safest Medical Center in the country. She believes that the “college provides a strong presence and an innovative educational facility in the midst of the Medical Center Complex. Our mission is to educate health care professionals for the practice environments of the 21st century. Many of our students will become future employees for the Medical Center and contribute to the nationally known reputation of our medical community. This aligns well with the mission of Memphis Medical Center to be known as community where education, innovative research, development and clinical care matters each day.”