$25 Million Grant Will Fund Midlands Technical College and Partner Colleges To Fast-track Displaced Workers Towards Healthcare Careers
October 9, 2013
The largest grant in the college’s history will help workers displaced by offshoring receive certification within one year
COLUMBIA, SC – October 9, 2013 – Thousands of displaced workers and other students can earn credentials for entry-level healthcare jobs within one year through a new program at Midlands Technical College, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
A consortium of six colleges in South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama will implement BOOST with Midlands Technical College acting as the consortium lead. Other colleges in the consortium are Central Carolina Technical College, Florence-Darlington Technical College, Wallace Community College at Selma, Robeson Community College, and Wallace State College at Hanceville.
The colleges will recruit displaced workers and other interested students with no previous healthcare experience to train for new certificates that utilize high-tech simulators and virtual reality technology. Midlands Technical College will receive $8.3 million to administer the grant and implement its local program, with the balance of the $25 million grant awarded to the other participating colleges.
There is a critical need in the Midlands to get entry-level workers into the pipeline for healthcare careers, said Dr. Marshall (Sonny) White, Midlands Technical College President. The BOOST program at MTC will have a positive impact on thousands of students, many in rural areas with high unemployment, to obtain enhanced training at early stages and set them up for success.
As I have said many times, the number one priority of this administration is jobs. BOOST shows what happens when educators and employers work together, said Governor Nikki Haley. This innovative program is specifically aimed at providing job training to workers who are having the hardest time finding good jobs in the new economy, and I couldn’t be prouder of Midlands Technical College, Central Carolina Technical College and Florence-Darlington Technical College for their leadership on this.
In creating the BOOST consortium and program, Midlands Technical College consulted directly with major healthcare employers, who expressed the need for significantly more entry-level workers. However, many academic allied health programs do not focus on providing entry-level credentials. BOOST is geared specifically toward meeting the needs of these employers while creating new career pathway to good-paying jobs for displaced workers and others.
Students can earn certifications including: CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), Phlebotomy, EKG, Cardiac Care, Patient Access Associate, Sterile Processing, Rehabilitation Technician and Patient Care Technician.
For several years, middle-wage, low-skill jobs that have provided family-sustaining wages to workers who may not have a high school diploma have been disappearing, said Dr. Martha Hanks, Chair of the Department of Health Sciences. Increasingly, though, the new ‘middle-skills’ jobs replacing them require postsecondary credentials – and since 2002, 45 percent of the jobs growth in the middle-skills occupations came from demand for healthcare workers.
The program’s unique use of practical stimulations and 3D/virtual reality will be key components of success for BOOST students. Online course materials and demonstrations will be more readily available for students living in rural areas and students whose schedules may conflict with traditional class times. The use of high-tech manikins in simulation labs paired with 3D/virtual reality equipment will allow students to go beyond what they see externally with the manikins to what is happening internally. Simulation equipment, task trainers and computer-based training scenarios will be integral parts of the training and will enhance student learning so that skills are easily transferred to the clinical settings.
The practical simulation used in this program differs from the design currently seen in most healthcare simulation education, which requires a designated faculty or staff expert to run simulations, said John J. Schaefer, Assistant Dean of the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina and director of HealthCare Simulation of South Carolina. In practical simulation, the expertise is programmed into the scenarios allowing a broader faculty pool and students themselves to run the scenarios and capture video to review at intervals and frequencies to better assist student learning.
In addition to approximately 7,000 displaced workers in the areas served by the BOOST colleges, the current and more traditional student population at the schools will also benefit. During the 2011/2012 academic year, BOOST colleges had 11,064 students admitted to health science and nursing programs that were waiting for one of 2,760 advanced program slots to open. Without a credential, the chances of securing a job that pays living wages are greatly reduced.
Through the use of the technology made possible by this grant, current students will have more access to enhanced training at early stages of their college careers, greatly increasing their chances for success as well, said Dr. White.
