DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — New allied health programs at Lake Region State College show a growth in collaboration between higher education and health care, and both LRSC and Altru Health System are excited about it.
Cassie Olson, Altru’s manager of education and patient experience, said it’s an endeavor Altru hopes to pursue further, with other high-demand, high-need areas.
“These allied health roles don’t have a lot of exposure,” she said. “There are so many other roles that you can do, and it takes all of those roles, really, to care for patients.”
An allied health program starting in the fall semester at LRSC is a surgical technology certificate program. Surgical technologists work in the operating room by gathering equipment and supplies before surgery, assisting the surgeon through surgery and cleaning up after the procedure to re-sterilize instruments and prepare for the next surgery. The program involves an apprenticeship educational model, similar to the nursing apprenticeship program at LRSC that has seen a recent boost in student numbers.
While students work as apprentices under surgical techs, they will also take online courses. LRSC has partnered with Altru to start the program. Students will be paid for their work and will have a two-year commitment to Altru after completing the nine month program.
Erin Howardson, the surgical technology instructor and program coordinator, said it’s been great to partner with Altru and be able to help get the program up and running. On day one, students will show up to the hospital to begin their apprenticeships while working through online courses. Some of what they will learn includes anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, pathophysiology, microbiology and more. About half the students signed up for the class so far will be going through the apprenticeship portion, while others will not and go through the class traditionally.
“There’s such a huge need for surgical techs,” Howardson said. “We’re basically the surgeon’s right-hand person.”
This is not the only apprenticeship-style allied health program LRSC is working on, though it is the first to be available to students. The North Dakota University System has awarded the college $1 million in Workforce Education Innovation Funds to expand its allied health apprenticeship programs. The certificates and associate degrees the funds will help LRSC and Altru pursue include surgical technology, laboratory technology, respiratory therapy, ultrasound/sonography and radiology technology.
“I think for our nursing (apprenticeship program), it took a little bit for people to understand the concept of an apprenticeship,” said Olson. “And now that that’s understood, I think there’s more interest.”
Olson said allied health positions like surgical technology are in high need of more people, but they aren’t as well known as other hospital jobs like doctors and nurses. Creating a new program exposes potential candidates to another avenue to get into health care, she said.
Karen Clementich, professor and department chair of LRSC’s nursing program, said the college’s mission is always to serve communities in need, and the allied health programs are part of that. The college found the five allied health programs to create next through a market analysis of the region to figure out what areas were in need for jobs and programs. Clementich said there are also plans to work with more hospitals outside Altru, following the nursing apprenticeship program’s expansion to having 11 clinical partners.
“We really want to make sure we’re serving all of those areas in need, and North Dakota’s so rural,” she said.
Carmen Simone, newly appointed interim president at LRSC, said the college is doing exactly what community colleges should be doing.
“That’s working with our local businesses, it’s really partnering and helping solve workforce issues,” she said. “It’s really helping to move our students forward, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Those interested in applying for the surgical technology program can reach out to Lisa Howard at LRSC at [email protected] .
