History
The term “allied health" has been used for the past 35 years to identify a cluster of health professions educational programs, which are administratively aligned as an academic unit of a school, college, or university. The health professions represented in each cluster vary across colleges, universities, and governmental agencies. At Baylor College of Medicine, the “Allied Health" cluster includes the disciplines of Nurse Anesthesia and Physician Assistant.
In 1970, the Baylor Board of Trustees announced a Ten Point Program for the 70s – one point established the Center for Allied Health Manpower Development in September 1971. The goal of the center was to improve the education and increase the production of allied health professionals. In 1979, the center’s name was changed again to the Center for Allied Health Professions. In 1988, the name was changed to the Division of Allied Health Sciences, which better represented its academic and administrative status at Baylor. In 2005, the BCM Board of Trustees elevated the Division to the School of Allied Health Sciences.
The Nurse Anesthesia Program was established in 1968 as a certificate program offered at Ben Taub General Hospital by the Harris County Hospital District. In 1983, it became a Master of Science degree program under the auspices of Baylor. The Physician Assistant Program, which began in 1971 as a certificate program, was elevated to Bachelor of Science status in 1975, and on to a Master of Science program in 1989. Collectively, these programs are the core of Allied Health Sciences at Baylor today.