OUM GREETS 23 NEW STUDENTS
University Grows in Numbers and Diversity
With January’s entering class adding seven more nurses to OUM’s most represented profession – along with representatives from six additional professions – these newest students continue to reflect the University’s diversity.
The entering class features researchers and medical technicians, as well as professionals from the patient and business management side of medicine and emergency response. Two physiotherapists, a nurse practitioner, pharmacist, midwife, student, and a mental health attorney also have enrolled.
Fourteen of the new class of 23 are from Australia, five are American, two are from OUM’s home in Samoa, with one each from Dubai and New Zealand rounding out the first-year class.
All new students met in December at a pre-orientation session to introduce them to OUM technology, as the post-bac students were to begin their coursework in January. An online orientation in mid-January welcomed the Australasian students and a two-day onsite session in Houston, Texas, welcomed the American students and their families. Students from these sessions began class in early February.
OUM’s Student Population: A Year-End Snapshot
A census of OUM’s students as of 31 December 2018 (not including the new class), showed a total of 219 students, up slightly from 212 at the end of 2017.
“We’re at a point now where entering students are replacing graduating students, a comfortable place for the University to be,” says Chris Dudley, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administration & Student Affairs. “At the beginning of each term, our numbers swell into the 240s and then the numbers shrink throughout the terms as students graduate.”
The average age of OUM’s student body is 41, consistent with previous years, fluctuating by six months higher or lower. Current student ages range from 22 to 66 years of age.
Also consistent with previous years, women outnumber men, but by a growing margin: 58-42 percent in 2018.
While all students have Bachelor’s degrees, 46 percent have Master’s degrees and seven percent hold Doctorates.
Nurses and nurse practitioners continue to be the most-represented professions of OUM students:
26% Registered Nurse
16% Nurse Practitioner
6% Business
5% each: Healthcare Management, Paramedic, Pharmacist, Physician Assistant, Technologist
OUM students hear from time to time that the University is “the United Nations of medical education,” as our students hail from 44 countries of origin. Here are the top five:
22% USA
19% Australia
11% India
5% Iran
5% Nigeria
The top five of 27 native languages spoken include:
58% English
5% Farsi
5% Hindi
5% Igbo
3% Arabic
As of the end of 2018, you would find OUM students living in one of nine countries:
52% Australia
37% USA
4% NZ
2% Canada
2% Samoa
Other: Japan, Poland, South Africa, South Korea
Last but not least, OUM has 117 graduates, primarily practicing or in post-graduate studies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, South Africa, and Samoa.
