A mechanic was removing the cylinder heads from the motor of a car when he spotted a famous heart surgeon in his shop who was standing off to the side, waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his car. The mechanic shouted across the garage, “Hello Doctor! Please come over here for a minute." The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, came over to the mechanic. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked argumentatively, “So doctor, look at this. I also open hearts, take valves out, grind ‘em, put in new parts, and when I finish this will work as a new one. So how come you get the big money, when you and me is doing basically the same work?” The doctor leaned over and whispered to the mechanic “Try to do it when the engine is running.”

Short-Term and Advanced Certificates to Help Alleviate the Health-Care Workforce Shortage Anne Loochtan, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Cincinnati, Ohio and President, NN2 Janell Lang, Owens Community College, Toledo, Ohio, and Past-President, NN2

NN2 National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-Year Colleges

Objectives Understand and differentiate between stand- alone certificates, stackable certificates, bridge programs and post-graduate programs. Understand the barriers and issues related to implementing new certificate programs. Be able to extrapolate new program opportunities to your own community college.

Background Many CCs are experiencing a surge in enrollment

Demand for short-term noncredit and credit training and certification programs is soaring Of the 30 occupations for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is predicting the largest growth, 22 do not require a degree, and four of those are within the health care arena (November 2007 Monthly Labor Review Table 3).

Unfortunately, more students than ever are skipping the degree, at least for the present, and looking for employment via community colleges’ credit and noncredit courses and certificate programs.

[There will be] “significant growth in almost all occupations in [health] field. However, cost- containment pressures by the health care industry will concentrate faster-than-average growth primarily among those health care workers who assist health care practitioners and have fewer qualifications, such as medical assistants, physical therapy assistants, pharmacy technicians, dental hygienists, and dental assistants—five fast-growing occupations.” Source:

Definitions Stand alones Stackable/bridge Post-graduate certificates Most can fall into 2 or 3 categories, there is not always a clear differentiation between them.

While these educational offerings are avenues to immediate employment, many of them also can provide pathways to additional certifications and ultimately degrees.

Stand-Alone CNA Home health aides HIT: Coding HIT: Transcription Pharmacy tech Massage therapy

STNA/CNA Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Program. Short term (90 hours) Relatively inexpensive to offer and While certain standards must be met to meet state regulations, no national accreditation is needed, The credentials of faculty are less rigorous than for those teaching in an ADN Program. Jobs are plentiful with a projected 265,000 openings (BLS 2007). Short-term courses/single course certificate (2-6 credit hours, depending on college)

Home Health Aides Provide assistance to patients in their homes rather than providing many of those same services in a health care facility. Duties include working with patients with mental health issues, dementia, developmental and/or physical disabilities, nutrition and meal preparation, and safety and injury prevention. Many elderly Americans are choosing to remain at home rather than receive care in nursing homes or other institutional settings, and the trend will continue. Consequently, employment numbers will jump from 787,000 jobs in o 1,171,000 in 2016, a 48.7% increase (Dohm and Shniper 2007). A short term program such as a home health aide certificate will not only alleviate the acute shortage of these workers, but it will help community colleges fulfill their mission of access and equal opportunity to learning, especially by opening the door to healthcare training. Short-term courses/single course certificate (2-6 credit hours, depending on college)

Pharmacy Techs A 32% increase in the number of pharmacy technicians is anticipated, raising employment needs from 285,000 in 2006 to 376,000 in Can be short-term courses or multi- course certificate (up to 10 credit hours, depending on college) Source:

HIT: HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The field of HIT is one of several exciting fields, surging with growth opportunities. As the complexity of health care continues, other specific areas within this field have emerged as sources for jobs, no degree needed. These include: specializations in coding, reimbursement transcription. These programs can be offered totally online, increasing access for students who cannot physically come to campus. 1-5 courses

Stackable certificates/bridge programs In Ohio, stackable certificates are defined by recent legislation, although health programs have had them in effect for many years. It may differ in your state.

Source:

Stackable Certificates in Ohio “House Bill 699, 126th General Assembly, directed the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to create a system of pre-college stackable certificates and college-level certificates and set requirements for the system.” Source:

Stackable/bridge Multicompetency Health (stackable) LPN to RN (bridge) Coding programs (stackable and bridge) Transcription Programs (stackable and bridge) Massage therapy (stackable and bridge) Polysomnography (stackable)

One example of an approach…

MULTI-COMPETENCY HEALTH TECHNICIAN (MCH) Certificates in MCH: STNA CNA Home Health Aide Medical Assistant EKG Basic/EKG Advancedd Electroneuordiagnostic Technologist Orthopedic Technologist Medication Aide EMT Basic Paramedic Coding Medical Billing Health and Fitness Technology Certificates MCH Degree = Total hours 103+ Min. 32 hours in 2 or more certificates Most students take only certificates

Bread and butter… STNA/CNA (prereqs for several fields at various colleges) (1 course + clinical) Medication Aides (1 course + clinical) PCA (1 course + clinical)

Low-Hanging Fruit: Medical Assisting MA is one of the fastest growing occupations in the country with 148,000 new job openings, amounting to a 35% increase from 2006 to 2016 BLS 2007). Short-term programs (proprietary colleges specialize in these. Question: why are these VERY expensive programs so competitive?) One-year certificates (proprietary colleges and community colleges) 2-year associate degree programs

Other Examples STNA  Medication Aide EKG Basic  EKG Advanced Orthopedic Technician  Medical Assisting  MCH degree END  MCH degree STNA  PCT

Stackable Advantages Stackables offer the advantages of Career advancement Higher pay Incremental educational success for at- promise students Students are more likely to go on to complete a degree

Post-graduate certificates: must have previous degree

Post-graduate certificates Nurse refresher certificate Medical Imaging advanced certifications in CT, MRI, Mammography, Radiation therapy, sonography (but can also be degrees in their own right) DMS (general and cardiovascular) (but can also be degrees in their own right) END (but can also be degrees in their own right) Cancer Information Management (CIM)

Post-graduate degrees (Associate degree to Bachelor degree) (Associate to Master’s) (Bachelor to Master’s) Beyond? Cincinnati State has several alumni who started as HCOP summer high school bridge students who went on the Associate degrees, and have recently earned their PhDs. Students attribute their success to the certificate and bridge programs and the continuing relationships with faculty members.

AS  BS AS  MS Sometimes require a tremendous amount of collaboration and cooperation to create Often DL completion programs

Other Considerations Exhaustion of financial aid Accreditation issues (national) Credentialing issues (national) Licensure issues (statewide) Distance learning And…

Infrastructure of the individual community college (WD vs. Academic side) - must have tremendous cooperation and communication between these two entities for these to work Example: HUC Example: STNA and CNA courses May be no clear differentiation between WD and credit side (especially with short-term certificates such as Pharm Tech)

Contact Information Janell Lang, Assistant Director, Faculty Development, Owens Community College, Anne Loochtan, Director of Distance Learning, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Cincinnati, Ohio,

Thank you! This presentation will be available beginning next week from the NN2 website at: (there will be a direct link on the home page) Newport Beach, CA AACC WDI Jan. 09