Delaware

Christina Carroll: From the 302, For the 302

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2024

Christina Carroll: From the 302, For the 302

NEWARK, Del. – When looking at the University of Delaware women’s golf roster, the geographic layout expands across the entire globe. However, there is one Blue Hen that has proudly called the First State home for her entire life. Christina Carroll, one of three seniors on the UD roster, is the lone Delawarean on a roster that features student-athletes from as far as Denmark and Russia.

A native of Bear, Carroll attended William Penn High School where she played golf and was also a part of the indoor track & field team. She was a well-decorated athlete, winning the 2019 DIAA Blue Hen Conference title and being named the 2020 William Penn Female Athlete of the Year, but was also an exceptional student as she earned multiple academic awards and was a member of the National Honor Society.

When it came time to start the recruiting process and look at schools to continue her golf career, Carroll admittedly wanted to go somewhere other than Delaware, looking for a southern school in a warmer climate that was more conducive to year-round golf. However, a variety of factors continued to pull her back to UD.

“Being born and raised in Delaware all my life, I wanted a change,” Carroll said. “I wanted to play golf somewhere where it was warm all year long. It ended up not being just sports that drove me to want to go here, but my major drove me to want to go here. And then my home course was one of the courses where Delaware practiced. My coach knew [Delaware head coach] Patty [Post] so I would see them have a clinic and the girls practice there too so it helped make me want to go here even more.”

Carroll has been a consistent part of UD’s lineup since she stepped foot on campus. She entered her senior season ranked fifth in Delaware history with a 75.51 career scoring average. And that number is only going down as, through the team’s first five tournaments in the fall, Carroll is averaging 74.27 strokes per round. Being the only Delawarean on the roster has always motivated Carroll and gives her an extra sense of pride when she dons the Blue & Gold.

“I want to represent Delaware well and also put us on the map. We are such a small state, even when I travel to places like California, people don’t know where Delaware is. I had the opportunity to qualify for some major tournaments like the U.S. Women’s Amateur and being able to carry my University of Delaware bag and represent Delaware, especially being the only woman from Delaware to qualify for that national event, was a very honorable moment for me.”

With her Blue Hen career beginning to wind down, Carroll has her sights set on what’s next. She is on track to graduate from the University of Delaware in May with a degree in electrical engineering and plans on moving to Southern California to begin preparing for a professional career. She will start Q-School in August with the hopes of earning her LPGA or Epson Tour card.

However, before Carroll can live out her dreams of playing professional golf, her focus is on improving her game in her final semester.

“I’m very excited to be competing, I love golf which is why I wanted to play in college so I’m really excited to get back out there. I think my mentality this spring is to do better than how I did last spring. During my junior year in the fall, I think I had a pretty good season which was something I was proud of, but I didn’t really finish how I wanted. I wanted to do it differently this year and finish stronger, especially since this is my last season.”

Carroll and her teammates open up the spring portion of their season this weekend when they play in the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational down in Georgia. The tournament is the first of five spring events for the Blue Hens as they gear up for the 2024 CAA Championships in April.

“Our team dynamic this year is really good. We’re more connected than I feel we’ve ever been in my four years here. Having a good team dynamic is very crucial to win championships and we have that so I believe we are in a pretty good position to accomplish those goals of winning the CAAs. We have a group full of very talented individuals too, so the more we can pour into each other and motivate each other to be our very best then that’s how we will get the job done.”

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
For the latest on Delaware women’s golf, follow the Blue Hens on X, Instagram, and like on Facebook.

Source link

Click to comment

Delaware

Thomas Jefferson University to run Delaware’s first medical school

Published

3 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Thomas Jefferson University to run Delaware’s first medical school

Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.

Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.

MORE: SEPTA reopens underground concourse connecting Walnut-Locust and City Hall stations

The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.

The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.

“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”

The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.

“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”

Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.

Source link

Delaware

Delaware is getting its first medical school, with classes set to start in 2028

Published

13 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Delaware is getting its first medical school, with classes set to start in 2028

Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.

However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.

“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”

Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.

Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.

The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.

Source link