MGH Institute of Health Professions
Massachusetts
1977
Formerly “Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing”
It is not known if the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing used college colors, but when the MGH Institute of Health Professions was created in 1977, teal and silver were selected as its collegiate colors.
There is no Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) record of a hood lining pattern used by the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing. The IBAC was affiliated with the Cotrell & Leonard film, which would go bankrupt only three years after the MGH Institute of Health Professions was founded in 1977. So it is unlikely that the Intercollegiate Bureau registered an official hood lining pattern for the MGH Institute.
The Institute uses a hood lined teal with a silver chevron. No other college or university in the United States uses this lining pattern.
The MGH Institute of Health Professions has also adopted a “custom” doctoral gown design. It is a standard black doctor’s gown with black velvet facings and sleeve bars, but with teal piping added to the edges of the velvet. Embroidered patches of the Institute’s shield are sewn to the upper part of each facing. The standard doctoral hood is also used.
Photos of a Doctor of Physical Therapy gown and hood tailored by the University Cap & Gown Company (Balfour) are shown above and to the left.
The Board of Directors of the American Physical Therapy Association approved teal as the Faculty color for the Master and Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees in 1997. Unfortunately this color is easily mistaken for the “seafoam green” the Intercollegiate Bureau assigned to Optometry degrees in 1949. For this reason, the Intercollegiate Registry of Academic Costume recommends slate blue as the Faculty color for degrees in the Allied Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.