DMU and Hawkeye Community College Partner to Bolster Iowa's Health Care Workforce

WEST DES MOINES, IA (02/05/2025) Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences and Hawkeye Community College's Health Sciences have formed an alliance to increase health sciences education in the state of Iowa. The partnership with Hawkeye Community College, located in Waterloo, Iowa, will provide a more streamlined pathway for students interested in occupational therapy to train and practice.

"This partnership opportunity developed through relationship building with Hawkeye's occupational therapy assistant program. We wanted to build a bridge for OTAs interested in continuing their education and earning a doctorate in occupational therapy," says Diana Feldhacker, Ph.D., O.T.D., OTR/L, BCPR, DMU's Doctor of Occupational Therapy Department chair and program director. "Beyond that, we are excited to collaborate with all of Hawkeye's programs to create a career path for future occupational therapists."

By fostering academic and career development, this partnership is vital for ensuring access to quality care in Iowa's communities and helping meet the pressing need for more health care workers across the region. "By creating opportunities for students to continue their education in Iowa, we are building a pipeline of health care professionals who will stay and work in Iowa," says Cindy Koehn, M.A. OTR/L, Hawkeye's occupation therapy assistant program director.

"By partnering with DMU, we are giving our students a direct and accelerated route to a doctoral degree in occupational therapy. This collaboration highlights our commitment to affordability and building a pipeline of well-trained professionals who will strengthen our health care systems," says Lynn LaGrone, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Hawkeye.

The DMU and Hawkeye partnership agreement offers students the following benefits:

Reserved Seats

The partnership agreement reserves seats annually for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program. These seats are available to competitive Hawkeye Community College students based on grade point average, demonstrated hours of relevant observational or work experience, a positive recommendation from Hawkeye Community College faculty and other academic achievements.

The partnership agreement takes effect immediately. Students interested in learning more are encouraged to contact Cindy Koehn, porgram director at Hawkeye Community College at cindy.koehn@hawkeyecollege@dmu or the DMU admissions team at admissions@dmu.edu.

Located in West Des Moines, part of Iowa's capital metro, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences offers 10 graduate-level professional degree programs in anatomy, biomedical sciences, health care administration, occupational therapy, osteopathic medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and public health. Founded in 1898, the institution offers superior academics in a collaborative environment. DMU students' scores on national examinations, pass rates on board certifications and match rates for medical residency programs are consistently higher than national averages and rates at peer institutions.

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