The 2026 Interdisciplinary Guatemala Service-Learning/Study Abroad Initiative marked the 3rd University service-learning experience in Santa Apolonia, Guatemala, and our largest student group to date. The initiative is led by Heather Barton-Weston, PhD, associate professor of Community Health Education, and Lauren Paul, DNP, MEd, GCNE, RN-BC, associate professor of Nursing.
On June 3, the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) welcomed approximately 90 high school students from 16 schools across South Texas for its annual Health Professions Discovery Day. Designed to introduce students to the wide range of careers available in healthcare, the event provided hands-on learning experiences, faculty interaction, and exposure to academic pathways within UIW's nationally recognized health professions programs.
May 29, 2026 – For Carlos Angel Reyes, the Spring 2026 graduation at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) was a day of continued firsts. Reyes is a proud first-generation college graduate from his family and now he is part of the first class of UIW’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy program out of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences. From newborn babies to the elderly, this first group of fifteen doctors will provide quality care to their patients, helping them overcome daily challenges.
Today, the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions continues its mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, through the educational preparation of health professionals. One of these remarkable health professionals is Fall 2025 graduate Elizabeth Yvonne Gonzalez.
On Saturday, Nov. 1, student doctors from all five health professions schools gathered at the UIWSOM campus for the inaugural Health Profession Olympics. This first-time event invited students to a day of Olympics-style activities and challenges that allowed them to showcase their sportsmanship.
UIW Hosts 2025 Sr. Charles Marie Frank Endowed Lecture
On Monday, July 21, a celebration was held in honor of launching the first paid internship program between UIW’s Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) and the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Heath System. The vision of the UIW-CHRISTUS paid nursing internship program is to simultaneously prepare nursing students for real-world excellence, while deepening the mission-driven partnership between UIW and CHRISTUS.
The UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) proudly celebrated the achievements of four exceptional Nursing faculty members honored at the 18th Annual South Texas Nurse Imagemaker Awards on Friday, May 23. This event recognized Texas nurses who went above and beyond in their roles - those who inspire others and truly represent the heart of the nursing profession.
In honor of the Spring 2025 health professions graduates, a number of ceremonies were hosted to celebrate their accomplishments.
On Thursday, March 7, the UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) hosted its annual Sr. Margaret Mary (Lucilla) Lecture in the McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room. This yearly event welcomes educators and students from the Nursing program to present their original research during poster presentations and to listen to a distinguished Nursing guest speaker.
From Thursday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 12, the 2024 Texas Nursing Students Association (TNSA) conference was hosted in Austin, Texas. TNSA is dedicated to promoting professionalism and leadership among nursing students, representing over 3,000 individuals across the state who are preparing for initial licensure as registered nurses. This annual conference welcomes members to gather and exchange ideas, share knowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of the next generation of nursing professionals.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, The Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) welcomed 450 aspiring healthcare practitioners and guests to the UIW McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room for the 2024 Sr. Charles Marie Frank Endowed Lecture. Current SNHP and UIW health professions students and faculty were welcomed to attend the event to share their healthcare-related research through poster presentations and listen to a lecture delivered by this year’s guest speaker, Kristen Swanson, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean emerita and professor from Seattle University College of Nursing.
The Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions invites the UIW community to attend this year’s Sr. Charles Marie Frank Endowed Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 3. The event will take place in the UIW McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room and will consist of a research poster viewing at 3 p.m. followed by the lecture at 4 p.m.
UIW has five health profession schools that rank among the best in the nation: Feik School of Pharmacy (FSOP), Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP), Rosenberg School of Optometry (RSO), School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM) and School of Rehabilitation Sciences (SoRS). Each school’s curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, holistic approaches and clinical experience that will enable aspiring healthcare practitioners to graduate practice-ready across a variety of professional settings.
This month, UIW faculty and students from the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) and the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) attended the International Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Dance and Sport (IAHPEDS) World Congress in Tokyo, Japan. This year marks UIW’s first ever participation in the IAHPEDS World Congress, held July 5 - 8.
Over 2,000 nurses from across the nation and globe visited San Antonio last week for the 47th Biennial Convention of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma), an international honor society of nursing. Those who have dedicated their lives to the service of others in the nursing profession came together to celebrate Sigma’s 100-year history of successes in transforming global healthcare and to look ahead to the future.
It was at one of his bleakest moments when Ralph Evans found God. A U.S. soldier during World War II, he devoted his life to faith and family upon returning from the war.
The University of the Incarnate Word's health professions programs recently held the annual Health Professions Summer Camp for local area high school students at the School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM). The camp was a unique opportunity for students to gain insight into the various health professions programs offered at the University.
After more than 40 years of service to the University of the Incarnate Word, Dr. Holly Cassells is prepared to call it a career. Cassells, a Registered Nurse who has dedicated her life to education and service in the healthcare industry, announced that she will retire at the end of the Spring 2023 semester.
Each year, the UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions (SNHP) gathers for the Sr. Margaret Mary (Lucilla), CCVI Nursing Lecture. On Tuesday, March 7, Delia G. Meyer, PhD, RN, CE, assistant professor in SNHP, served as the keynote speaker for the 2023 lecture, sharing a presentation titled “’You’re Your Own Child’s Doctor’: Mexican American Parents’ Experiences with Asthma.” Nursing students, licensed nurses, healthcare professionals, faculty and distinguished guests attended the event.
UIW is proud to announce that the UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions is one of fourteen programs across the United States awarded a 3-year, $1,049,754 grant from the federal government, Health Resources Services Administration, Nursing Education, Practice, Quality and Retention.
Among the UIW freshmen who moved to campus in August was Xzavier Perales, a new UIW Nursing student who was accompanied by his mom and dad, Roxanne and Eddie Perales, alumni of the University of the Incarnate Word. For the Perales family, UIW isn’t just an institution of learning. It’s their second home.
The UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions will hold its annual Sr. Charles Marie Frank, CCVI Endowed Lecture at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room. This year, guest speaker Athena Sherman, PhD, PHN, RN, CNE assistant professor at Emory University, will address deliver her lecture titled, LGBTQI+ and Health in Nursing: Creating Environmental and Curricular Change.
The UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions honored its Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) August graduates at a pinning ceremony in Our Lady’s Chapel on Saturday, Aug. 20. The pinning ceremony celebrates nursing graduates and recognizes their entry into the profession of nursing.
The UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions is pleased to announce that Professor Michael D. Moon PhD, MSN, RN, CNS-CC, CEN, FAEN will be the recipient of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
UIW’s Community Health Education (CHED) program, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health professions, has earned full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Two members of the UIW Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions faculty – Professor Julie Nadeau, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, and Assistant Professor Linda Hook, DrPH, MSN, RN, PHNA-BC – and UIW alumna Lizet Garza, RN, BSN, Northeast Independent School District (NEISD) were recently recognized for their dedication and service to the field of nursing.
It’s the fall of 2018. A 17-year-old Avery Alva is starting her journey at UIW after graduating from Antonian College Preparatory High School. She’s young, but she already knows what she is meant to do. She’s here to become a nurse.
UIW students are engaging communities to become better prepared to work in the healthcare industry
The University of the Incarnate Word Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions is set to recognize National Public Health Week from April 4-10, with a theme that focuses on the impact of public health in the community.
The University of the Incarnate Word is proud to recognize athletic trainers and sports medicine staff during National Athletic Training Month, held annually in March to raise awareness about the important work of athletic trainers.
Each spring, the University of the Incarnate Word community comes together as “One Word” to work towards “One Goal” – raising funds to support current and future UIW students. UIW’s fourth annual Day of Giving, known as “One Word. One Goal.,” will be celebrated for 1881 minutes, in honor of the University’s founding year, during Incarnate Word Week beginning March 23.
Wynette Keller, director of TRiO Student Support Services at the University of the Incarnate Word, was recognized by the Texas TRiO Association with a 20 Year Service Award at the organization’s conference. We caught up with Keller to discuss how rewarding her work is and how it aligns with the Mission of UIW.
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, University of the Incarnate Word health professions faculty and students, public health conditions permitting, are planning to participate in the Quijotes of San Antonio Interprofessional Health Mission.
Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the University of the Incarnate Word Faculty Senate and University Mission and Ministry, faculty across UIW were honored with the 2022 Faculty Awards in January.
Dr. Ronda Gottlieb, UIW director of Clinical Health, has been part of UIW’s team of first responders since the onset of the pandemic. As she recounts, “On Jan. 9, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a mysterious coronavirus-related pneumonia in Wuhan, China. At that point, cases were very low in China, but on January 20, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began screening for Coronavirus at three U.S. international airports. When the first confirmed U.S. case of COVID-19 was identified in Washington state, the UIW Incident Command team began officially meeting."
The University of the Incarnate Word Student Nurses Association (SNA) received the 2021 Image of Nursing Award and the Breakthrough to Nursing Award from the Texas Nursing Students Association (TNSA). The TNSA is a direct constituent of the National Student Nurses’ Association.
UIW is proud to announce that Dr. Linda Hook, assistant professor in the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing & Health Professions, has been named the winner of the 2021 Ruth B. Freeman Award for teaching and service in public health.
Dr. Adesegun Oyedele, coordinator of International Business in the H-E-B School of Business and Administration (HEBSBA), partnered with professor Dr. Karen Weis, PhD, RNC-OB, FAAN, and assistant professor Julio Lujano, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, ENP-C, both from the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions, to co-produce UIW’s first Opportunity Recognition Workshop on Nov. 1.
UIW is proud to announce that Dr. Heather Barton-Weston, assistant professor and public health coordinator in the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions; Dr. Nile Barnes, assistant professor of Pharmacy; and Dr. Maria Felix-Ortiz, professor and chair of Psychology, obtained $32,000 of stipends from Interfaith Youth Core’s (IFYC) Faith in the Vaccine grant for UIW students to serve as “vaxambassadors” who promote vaccination against COVID-19.
At least three dozen UIW students from the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing, Feik School of Pharmacy and School of Osteopathic Medicine along with over 100 volunteers will participate in a COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at Southside High School on April 10, 2021. About 1,000 area residents have been pre-registered to receive the vaccine.
The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to welcome its first cohort of Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) degree students in a new, interactive learning environment.
The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to announce that Dr. Holly Cassells has been selected and elevated to the post of dean for the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions.
The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to announce that it has received two grants totaling $6,464,793 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
As a second-year student at the University of the Incarnate Word’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, TJ Counce is learning all there is to know about the “hands-on” approach to treating patients.
For the second year in a row, the University of the Incarnate Word’s (UIW) Nursing Program has been ranked in the top 10 in the state of Texas by a national website.
The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is taking a major step in enhancing and elevating the degree offering for students in its Athletic Training Education program.
