Alliance for Healthcare Education sees student growth

Dan Edwards, a program director for Ozarks Technical Community College, told its board members Monday about seeing students from several different programs take the same sorts of classes at Cox College. 

“It’s fun to see the different colored scrubs of people walking around, interacting and mingling,” Edwards said.

The campus is a hub of the Alliance for Healthcare Education, a partnership that established a streamlined career path for students as young as high school juniors to enter the health care industry.

Edwards oversees one of Ozarks Tech’s offerings to the alliance for radiology and sonography. He and other similar program directors presented details about student enrollment to the alliance’s Board of Directors during a regular meeting on Monday.

The directors helped show how many students are taking advantage of the alliance’s pathways. 

• Rebecca Johnson, Missouri State University’s program director for nursing undergraduates, reported that MSU’s nursing program has 48 second-semester students, after starting an additional 36 this semester. 

After an application cycle closed, Johnson said about 170 applicants applied for 112 seats in the program — 56 students will begin in the upcoming fall semester.

Students in Missouri State’s program work toward a bachelor of science in nursing. The degree expands career options considerably, enabling the students to earn prominent positions in health care organizations, including specialized clinical positions and leadership roles.

• Stacy Bohn, director of Ozarks Tech’s nursing program, said the school has accepted the third of four cohorts for its expanded program. Its first and second cohorts had 30 and 29 students, respectively. 

Bohn said 20 students are set to start the third cohort in March, and the school will soon open applications for a cohort that starts in June. 

Ozarks Tech’s part of the program results in students earning an associate of science in nursing, a key certification that enables students to hold higher-level, better-paying nursing jobs. 

• Edwards, director of Ozark Tech’s newly established program for radiography, reported 41 students across two semesters in his program. The sonography program, led by program director Michelle Masengill, has 19 students currently.

Ozarks Tech launched the two programs last year. Students in them earn associate’s degrees in fields that are relied upon heavily by doctors and other professionals for diagnostic information.

Edwards said at least 70 have applied for the sonography class’s next 20 seats, and that when the application period closes, he anticipates around 90 for radiology.

• Tina Pham, director of operations for the alliance, reported that enrollment for Ozarks Tech’s Middle College program has opened and drawn interest from students in all five Springfield Public Schools high schools, as well as students in Nixa, Republic and Logan-Rogersville high schools. 

Through the Middle College program, high school students are able to get real-world experience and a certified nursing assistant designation, enabling them to start working for health care centers. 

Alliance officials hope to have a total of 100 juniors and seniors enrolled when applications close. Recruiting high school students is one of the biggest areas of growth for the alliance — Pham reported it is working with the Southwest Missouri School Counselors Association in April to reach more area high schools. 

Its first two-year participants are preparing to graduate at the end of the school year, Pham said. 

“We are working with the Middle College team to show them what is still at their fingertips, whether that can be through Ozarks Tech or making a transition to Missouri State University,” Pham said. “We want to make sure that they know exactly where they are, and what they would need to get into programs, so we are working to have navigators from Ozarks Tech and advisers from Missouri State.”

Comprised of MSU, Ozarks Tech, SPS and CoxHealth, the alliance recently announced the addition of Burrell Behavioral Health and Citizens Memorial Hospital. The announcement was made at an August groundbreaking for a renovation of Cox College.