Office of the Dean
The Dean of the College of Health Science holds academic and administrative oversight of the undergraduate BSN programs, as well as the graduate physician assistant program.
Joseph R. Hames, M.D.
Joseph R. Hames, M.D. is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. He was named as Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Bethel University in 2010 and Vice President of the College of Health Sciences in 2014. Dr. Hames has academic and administrative oversight of the undergraduate Athletic Training and BSN programs as well as the graduate Physician Assistant program. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine and teaches Pharmacology to the Physician Assistant students and continues to practice Emergency Medicine at several hospitals in west Tennessee.
Dr. Hames earned a BA degree in English from Furman University in 1978. While at Furman he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Hames graduated from the University Of South Carolina School Of Medicine in 1982 where he was a charter member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed his Family Practice Residency in 1985 at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, and was in private practice in Spartanburg, South Carolina for eight years before going into emergency medicine in 1993. He currently serves on the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. He is married to the Rev. Dr. Anne Hames who is the Senior Chaplain of Bethel University. Anne and Joe have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
