Category Archives: Alumni & Friends

After surviving strokes, nursing grad Rachel Groves ’05 ’07MS and former UCF offensive lineman Ray Forsythe started the YESS Foundation to help other young stroke survivors. Read More

A generous grant will help free clinics staffed by the College of Medicine, College of Nursing, physical therapy and social work programs serve 400-500 patients each year. For hundreds of Apopka farmworkers living in poverty, receiving regular, quality healthcare is an endless challenge. But thanks to an interdisciplinary effort from the University of Central Florida’s […]

The Parramore Healthy Community Coalition will spearhead initiatives ranging from nutrition education to diabetes screenings for the community. Healthy lifestyles enable individuals to live full, productive lives. It allows children to maximize their growth and learning potential. It enables parents to excel at their careers and pass along positive behaviors to their children. It creates […]

UCF’s commencement is the culmination of an amazing journey for Eliany Torrez Pon, a nursing student who is making better access to health care a priority. BY ROBERT STEPHENS | MAY 2, 2018 You can hear it in the voice of Eliany Torrez Pon. Compassion. Gratitude. Determination. It’s all there when she talks about graduating […]

By Jenna Marina Lee | January 2, 2018 On Dec. 31, 2011, Sarah Dodson ’01 knew New Year’s Eve would never hold the same meaning to her again. After five years of treatment, her 8-year-old daughter Marlie, who dreamed of becoming a UCF cheerleader and nurse, died of a brain tumor. In 2012, Dodson and her family established a new […]

Countless Contributions to Nursing’s Future By UCF College of Nursing When the University of Central Florida College of Nursing received approval from the Florida Board of Governors to begin the state’s fifth doctoral program in nursing in spring 2003, it was considered key to solving the state’s shortage of nurses and nurse educators. At that time, it […]

Nurses can run successful businesses with a heart. Really. Long-time friends with UCF ties launched Nurses First Solutions in 2014 and with a little help from the UCF Incubator program have seen their company grow from three employees to 12 and revenue climb from $300,000 to $6 million. The say their keys to success have […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (June 22, 2017) – When long-time friends Alvin Cortez ’08 and Richard Manuel connected with the UCF Business Incubation Program to foster growth for their travel nurse staffing agency, they were asked a simple question: Why would somebody choose you rather than the company next to you? They had a simple answer. They […]

When Eliany Torrez Pon learned that her grandmother in Nicaragua had ovarian cancer, she and her family sent money to relatives in their home country to help. Pon contributed the $2,000 she had saved to pay for her spring semester tuition, knowing she would not able to pay for classes — as a DREAMer (Development, […]

Graduates from two of UCF’s nurse practitioner programs achieved a perfect score on their national board certification exams this semester. Altogether, 29 College of Nursing’s graduates achieved certification as either adult-gerontology primary nurse practitioners or family nurse practitioners, two specialties that are in growing demand in the health care market. The certification exams are the […]