The focus of the overall project is twofold: (1) to increase the options for healthcare education and training for rural, place-bound community college students; and (2) to meet the employment needs for healthcare professionals in the region, including increased ethnic representation. The project will be implemented at Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) through its Workforce Education Division, which has a proven record of providing instructional and support programs to prepare an educated workforce to meet the needs of today’s technologically advanced workplace.

Problem Statements:

• Providers are unable to recruit sufficient healthcare personnel to meet the need.  The healthcare personnel shortage is a national, regional, state, and local crisis.
  
  
• In professions such as surgical technology, the personnel shortage is acute, yet the number of new positions in the region is less than ten annually. It is fiscally challenging, if not prohibitive, to offer education/training for fewer than ten students per year.
  
  
• Students seek education and training that meet their needs as adult learners balancing home, work, and family obligations.   Programs offering access, flexibility, and learning anywhere/anytime options are essential.

Project Objectives:

1. Design an innovative and flexible curriculum for healthcare education/training that prepares students for success in entry-level positions.
   
   
2. Create an infrastructure, via an advisory committee, to sustain collaboration and provide immediate input from industry.
   
   
3. Respond to healthcare employment needs of the region including increased ethnic representation.

Background Information:

The Washington State Health Care Personnel Shortage Task Force Report of December 2002 stresses the severity of the personnel shortage and indicates its difference from previous shortages, “Washington’s aging population will dramatically increase the demand for health care.  The aging population includes health care personnel who will retire just at the time when more health care workers are needed.”   The report also addresses the high cost of health care education/training and the major barriers to expansion of programs at community colleges--shortage of faculty, shortage of clinical sites, cost of equipment, and lack of class/lab space.   The report champions the concept of modular education and training that allows students to ascend a career ladder to a higher credential and higher paying position.    Promoting career ladders improves retention of entry-level health care workers by providing them with career advancement opportunities.   “Train and retain” is a philosophical tag line of the YVCC project.

Founded in 1928, Yakima Valley Community College serves a tri-county district of 8500 square miles with two campuses that are fifty miles apart.  Based on its high levels of poverty and unemployment, Yakima has recently received the Renewal Community federal designation.  Data from the 2000 Census Bureau report indicates that 18.3 % of the county’s residents live in poverty; almost twice the statewide poverty rate of 10.2%.   The per capita dollar income of residents is $20,718, which is 76% of the national average and 72% of the state average. 

The Hispanic population in Yakima County has grown to 36% in 2000 (up from 30% in 1996) according to demographic information from 2000 Census Bureau reports.  Though the statewide percentage of Hispanics is 6.1%, much of the state's Hispanic population resides in Yakima County and its neighboring counties. 

Designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, Yakima Valley Community College’s focus on student success and learning is institutionalized in the college’s mission and philosophy.  Minority students comprise nearly 43% of the community college’s student body.   YVCC is prepared to help students get started, whether the need is GED preparation, English-as-a-Second-Language, developmental courses, or college-level programs, students are empowered to achieve their educational goals at their community college.

Project Vision:

Core curriculum:   The Allied Health Core Curriculum project is built on the premise that greater efficiency in healthcare education and training can help expand capacity and meet needs of students and employers.  A common-core curriculum, of 34 quarter credits, which covers subjects all allied health students must learn, is central to the project model.  The core curriculum includes the following courses:  Anatomy/Physiology/Pathophysiology, First Aid/CPR/HIV, Medical Law & Ethics, Medical Terminology, Pharmacology, Technical Math, Technical Writing, and Therapeutic Relationships.  Short-term certificates may be earned during the core – CPR/First Aid, EKG, HIV, Medical Terminology and Phlebotomy.   Students will begin their study with the core and, upon successful completion, choose their major from among the following professions:  Medical Assisting, Medical Billing & Coding, Spanish Medical Interpreter, Pharmacy Technician, and Surgical Technology.  The new programs selected for this expansion were targeted due to the strong labor market data and job outlook projections, per the Employment Security Department’s Labor Market & Economic Analysis Division. 

Curriculum options:  To maximize access and flexibility, the theoretical portions of the curriculum have been be constructed in modules which are available online.  The availability of ‘learning anywhere/anytime’ online options is vital in the YVCC service district, which spans many miles and three counties, and popular among students whose schedules do not accommodate regular on-campus classes.   

Facility:   In support of this project, Yakima Valley Community College is constructing a new 3,000 square foot fully-equipped allied health training center, utilizing an open design that includes twenty online computer stations, multi-media stations, individual and group study areas, resource library, and a practice/demonstration laboratory for hands-on learning that simulates the work environment.   The simulated settings will include a pharmacy drug preparation area, a surgical suite, a physician’s examination room, and a medical office administrative area.  The final phase of the building was completed in the spring of 2005. Tours of the new building are available.

Program Accomplishments:

• Using the Core Curriculum Project for the basis of its presentation, Yakima Valley Community College was awarded the designation of Center of Excellence by the Washington Sate Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the only such designation awarded to any Washington college for allied health programs.
   
• There are currently 252 students actively taking classes in the Allied Health Technology Department to complete a certificate or degree in Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technician, Surgical Technology, Medical Billing and Coding, Medical Interpreter, or Phlebotomy.
   
• All theory courses have been developed for internet delivery to meet the needs of working students, or those from remote areas.
   
• The Medical Assisting Program was awarded full national accreditation and prepares students to meet all state requirements to obtain the Health Care Assistant certificate required for non-licensed personnel to legally administer injections.
   
• The first cohort of Surgical Technology students has completed program requirements. The national accreditation application is in process.
   
• The first cohort of Pharmacy Technician students will begin their externship rotation spring quarter 2005, completing the program in June 2005.  The program has been approved by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy.
   
• The first Medical Interpreter course was taught in Grandview fall quarter 2004.  It is scheduled to be taught yearly, in the fall.  The course uses nationally developed curriculum, Bridging the Gap, and is taught by a instructor who has completed coursework designed to “train the trainer” to teach interpreting skills.