Midwifery Education Program

Commencement Highlights

Congratulations - Class of 2008

Masters Completion Students - Class of 2008

Faculty 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(left to right) MaryAnne Laffin, Suzanne Schechter, Lily Hsia (former Chair), Ronnie Lichtman (current Chair), Sheryl Eason (Administrative Assistant), Valerie Roe, Aleida Llanes-Oberstein

Lily Hsia, MS, CNM, CPNP, FACNM

Receives Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Lily Hsia, former chair of the Midwifery Education Program is a national leader in midwifery education. In 1996, she made history in inaugurating the first ACNM accredited, direct-entry midwifery education program in the United States. While this had long been the aim of midwifery educators, it took someone with Professor's vision and drive to make it a reality. By making a career in midwifery accessible to students from all academic backgrounds, she fostered diversity in the profession and made it better able to serve community needs.

After graduating with a BS in nursing from St. John's University and a master's degree in maternity and newborn nursing from Columbia University, she went on to earn certification as a pediatric nurse practitioner from the University of Rochester. Professor Hsia began her 31-year tenure at SUNY Downstate in 1971. During 18 of those years, she was chair of the Midwifery Education Program, winning admiration for her teaching and administrative gifts, as well as her ability to attract millions in grant funding. Thanks to her efforts, hundreds of students, including many people of color, were given access to quality, low-cost midwifery education.

Professor Hsia spent many years identifying the specific knowledge and skills needed for midwifery practice. This culminated in the founding of the Direct Ebtry Program, through which candidates who are not nurses are permitted to pursue a midwifery education and career. Except for certain prerequisites, all students - nurses and non-nurses alike - follow the same course of study. It has become a model program, demonstrating that qualified students from diverse backgrounds can become competent midwives.

In 2005, Professor Hsia was awarded the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), at its fiftieth anniversary celebration. For her service to Downstate, she received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence and was the first recipient of the Donald J. Scherl Award from the College of Health Related Profession. The College continues to honor her by endowing an annual student scholarship in her name.

Since retiring as chair of midwifery, Professor Hsia remains active on the editorial board and as a contributor to the ACNM's Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, and as an educational consultant, both nationally and abroad.