Local Technical College Research Articles

Laboratory Science Workforce Pipeline Strategies

Abstract Introduction/Objective The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 24,000 openings for clinical laboratory jobs each year until 2031 (BLS, 2022). The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP, 2023) reported a 14.8% vacancy rate for medical laboratory scientists in the South-Central Atlantic region; this region includes South Carolina. There are not enough MLT or MLS certified laboratorians to keep up with current or future demands. On average, 3779 new certifications were awarded annually between 2019-2023. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina is taking short- and long-term approaches to address workforce challenges. Methods/Case Report Since 2018, Pathology and Lab Medicine has increased the number of clinical affiliates from 2 to 9 and have trained a total of 39 MLS students and 37 MLT students. In 2023, through collaboration with the MLT program at the local technical college, we began providing didactic education for 15 current lab team members with bachelor’s degrees but no clinical laboratory background. Employing youth apprentices is a long-term strategy being initiated in the 24-25 academic year. Juniors and seniors in high school are eligible for a two-year paid apprenticeship. Training includes medical lab assistant and phlebotomy certification. Through recruitment activities, we can increase awareness of the role of laboratory professionals in medicine. Long-term, the apprenticeship training provides an academic pathway to MLT and MLS certification. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) N/A Conclusion The short-term strategies have met with varying success and course corrections have been made. Successes and barriers will be discussed. Strategies for recruiting and selecting youth apprentices will be outlined. Training plans for youth apprentices will be presented.

Orientation to the Operating Room: An Acute Care Hospital and Local Technical College Partner for Success.

A hospital system and a local college formed a partnership to create a customized orientation program for novice operating room nurses. Perioperative online modules, hands-on skills laboratories facilitated by qualified faculty, and clinical time with a preceptor were the foundations of the program. Outcomes included cost savings of 1.5 million dollars, increased nurse retention rates, and improved examination scores. Nursing professional development practitioners can utilize this model for operating room orientation best practice.

Residential transfer students and the university library: A needs assessment

Academic libraries support and serve transfer student populations in various ways, from tailored instruction, services, and outreach efforts. This study sought to understand the library needs of a residential transfer student population that bridges a local technical college to a university. The researchers used focus group interviews and a survey to collect data and used descriptive statistics and constant comparative thematic coding analysis to analyze the data. Results indicated that many students used the physical environment of the university library to study and felt welcomed in the space. Some students indicated that they used the university library's resources, while some responded that they did not know they had access to the university library or did not know how to use it. Students discussed that they felt they were not “allowed” to use the university library's research resources, and many stated that distance was a barrier to using the library. Although many students indicated that they use the university library, many students asked for more instruction on how to use the library. They also expressed an interest and need for tutoring services available within the university library.

Aspire High: Impacting Student Aspirations In A Regional Community

This paper provides initial evidence of the effectiveness of an educational program in a Tasmanian regional community that has experienced ongoing industrial restructuring. In response to these changes, community and civic leaders adopted a multifaceted strategic plan to address employment needs and opportunities. Part of this plan involved targeting school children to help them explore a broader range of educational and career options. The program, Aspire High, involves Year 5 children visiting workplaces, the local Year 11 and 12 college, the local technical college, and a local university campus. This paper reports results from student interviews and surveys. While it is difficult to attribute changes in students’ attitudes and aspirations solely to Aspire High, it is evident that they were enthusiastic about the program. Secondary findings showed that students become less positive towards school by Year 8, and that boys are less likely to be positive towards school and more likely to choose a traditionally gendered occupation.

Pilot randomized trial on mindfulness training for smokers in young adult binge drinkers

BackgroundWe report results of a pilot study designed to test a novel smoking cessation intervention, Mindfulness Training for Smokers (MTS), in smokers age 18-29 years with regular episodes of binge drinking. Mindfulness is a cognitive skill of applying close moment-to-moment attention to experience with a mental posture of acceptance and non-reactivity. The MTS intervention consisted of six weekly classes that provided instruction on how to use mindfulness to manage known precursors of smoking relapse including smoking triggers, strong emotions, stressful situations, addictive thoughts, urges, and withdrawal symptoms.MethodsThe MTS intervention was compared to Interactive Learning for Smokers (ILS), a time/intensity matched control group using daily non-directed walking instead of mindfulness meditation. Recruitment was conducted primarily at local technical colleges. Primary outcome measures included biochemically-confirmed smoking abstinence and reduction in alcohol use at the end of treatment (2-weeks post-quit attempt).ResultsThe sample (N = 55) was 70.9% male, with a mean age of 21.9 years, and a mean of 11.76 alcoholic drinks consumed per week. Intent-to-treat analysis showed biochemically-confirmed 7-day point prevalence abstinence rates at 2-weeks post-quit for MTS = 20.0% and ILS = 4.0%, p = .08. Secondary analysis showed number of drinks per week in the first 2-weeks post-quit correlated with smoking relapse at 2-weeks post-quit (p < .01).ConclusionsThis pilot study demonstrated that Mindfulness Training for Smokers shows promise for smoking cessation and alcohol use reduction in treating young adult smokers with alcohol abuse. Results suggest the need for a study with larger sample size and methods that reduce attrition.Trial registrationClnicalTrial.gov, NCT01679236

Association Roundtable

Insights and advice from leaders of local and state biomedical associationsWe have started a junior chapter of our Danish Society for biomedical engineering and they have seats on our board. This gives a revitalization of our society and our board. It gives early contact to future colleagues and better contact to the universities. And it gives the junior members a great network for their career.”Kim Dremstrup, PhD, President, Danish Society for Biomedical Engineering“After observing other association websites, we noted there was not much updating of information. Everything just seemed stagnant—something that is not good in a dynamic field such as healthcare technology management. Pursuant to the resolution of this challenge, our Information Blog was established. Each weekday a new helpful message is posted on the blog. It could be something about an upcoming webinar, a new best practice, a meeting announcement, or something technology oriented that affects our field. When these blog items are posted, our system automatically e-mails the post to our member and associate subscribers, which at this time total 246.”Dick Felton, Past President, Healthcare Technology Management Association of Ohio“We have always been involved with our local technical college. We recommend hiring talented individuals from other technical fields and training them in biomedical principles using our technical college. This way you help local individuals, the community, and create cost savings for the hospital.”Horace Hunter, Executive Director, Georgia Biomedical Instrumentation Society“We have begun two programs which are quite popular.“The first program is a certification study group. We've held weekly study groups at two Kansas City metro area hospitals which teleconference with the highly successful CABMET group. We augment that with additional training. For instance this year I taught a 2 hour X-ray fundamentals course. As a result of this program we've certified over 30 new CBET and CRES technicians. We've also held A+ training.“The other program we've instituted which seems quite popular is a raffle for a trip to the AAMI annual conference. A ticket is awarded to individuals who contribute something meaningful to the organization or profession. Examples would be teaching a class, writing an article which is published in a professional publication, or recruiting a new corporate sponsor.”Dan DeMaria, CBET, CRES, President, Healthcare Technology Management Association of the Midwest (HTMA-MW)

This Side of the Mountain

This Side of the Mountain George Brosi January 2006 marked a high point in television coverage of Appalachia . Not only did live TV crews cover the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia for hours at a time, but also the Public Broadcasting System's series, Frontline, carried a six-hour special over three days called "Country Boys" which followed the lives of two Floyd County, Kentucky, teenagers. Although it is risky to respond to the Sago coverage because we must be sensitive to those who lost loved ones, responding to "Country Boys" is even more perilous. This special focused on two young men, Cody Perkins and Chris Johnson, who are still very much alive. Almost four years have passed since the show was filmed, and Cody is now married to Jessica Riddle and studying at the local technical college to be an air conditioning and heating technician. Chris is hoping to become a strip-miner. Any criticism of the show can easily be viewed as criticism of them, their families and their circumstances, and I have no intention of doing that. People like Chris and Cody live everywhere, and what is good about "Country Boys" is that, at best, it did encourage sympathetic understanding of their problems which do deserve public attention. What is disconcerting is that viewers might too easily conclude that the segment of society depicted in "Country Boys" is all there is to Appalachia . The founder of Appalachian Heritage, Al Stewart, grew up in a holler near where this show was filmed, and Mike Mullins, who, as Director of the Hindman Settlement School rescued Appalachian Heritage in 1982, grew up in a nearby coal camp as did Dr. Claude Crum who contributed a story to this magazine last year. The two written responses to the show in this issue amply demonstrate that many extremely articulate people can easily been found very close at hand. Did viewers realize that the woman who was raising Cody has a second cousin, Leslie Kendrick, also raised in Floyd County in Cody's generation, who was a Rhodes Scholar? And what about the natural environment? How ironic that beautiful Jenny Wiley State Park is so close by, yet never made its way into the camera's lens. In some ways what was most galling, however, was the way the show depicted Christianity emphasizing those silly signs and "music" which many people, myself included, can't appreciate. What a contrast viewers saw between this depiction of Appalachian religion and the live coverage of the Sago Church, an integral public facility where neighbors were comfortable in both grief and exaltation . The Sago miners were hard-working people, doing a job that keeps the lights on for the rest of the country. They were earning a good living for their families. And, speaking of families, the Sago coverage demonstrated the strength of mountain families unlike "Country Boys." The Sago miners worked for a non-union company that jerked them around like tiny pawns in an international energy game. Their problems were clearly caused not by their own sorriness, but by forces beyond their control. The Sago coverage showed a supportive, selfsufficient community, whereas the Frontline program depicted support coming only from a school run by an outsider from Brooklyn. I'm not trying to brag on the coverage of the Sago mine disaster. I think it could have been much more hard-hitting and illuminating. I just believe that the contrast shows what a biased view those who watched "Country Boys" received. Sure, it is an oversimplification, but for decades nowAppalachia has been depicted mostly in two contrasting ways: either as a region whose problems are the result of outside exploitation or as a place where the "culture of poverty" of the people themselves has doomed them. Discerning viewers of the Sago coverage could clearly see how that proud community was treated shabily, but those who watched the PBS special might be tempted to blame the victims. Those who produced "Country Boys" had the time and resources, but evidently not the inclination, to do a much better job. ...

Prevalence and Influences on Smoking in People with Learning Disabilities

The people attending the three local social education centres (SECs) and those attending the “Into Independence” and “Community Access” courses at the local technical college who smoked were identified. A questionnaire on knowledge and attitude to smoking was then given to each smoker as well as to a group of matched controls (matched on age sex and approximate degree of learning disability who attended the same facility). A similar questionnaire was also given to the carers of the smokers and the carers of the controls. It was found that the overall prevalence rate of smoking was only two percent, and that there was no significant difference in the knowledge about smoking between the smokers and controls; however, the smokers were significantly more likely to live with someone

Professor Walter Morgan

Professor Walter Morgan

All in an engineer’s life

All in an engineer’s life

Training Pharmacy Technicians in Support of Rural Health Initiatives: A South Carolina Experience

Objective: To provide an overview of pharmacy technician distance learning based on an established program. Setting: Technical college pharmacy technician training program cooperating with similar institutions located in remote areas of South Carolina. Discussion: Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC, developed a project to provide pharmacy technician training in underserved rural South Carolina. Didactic instruction is by live television broadcast that is received in the students' local technical college. Laboratory instruction is conducted in two auxiliary laboratories geographically located within reasonable driving distances of the students' local college; instruction is scheduled to require a minimum number of trips. Experiential training is received in the students' home community. Midlands faculty make monthly visits into distance communities to review student progress. Conclusions: The performance of distance-learning students has thus far matched the performance of Columbia-based students. Student performance, both Columbia and distance-learning, was compared using earned grade points. A statistical analysis was not applied to this comparison. Results from the first two years of this project demonstrated a slightly higher grade-point performance for distance-learning students. Success of distance-learning students has shown that pharmacy technician instruction can be delivered successfully into remote sites in South Carolina.

New Challenges for Education: Incorporation

Looks at the challenges being faced in the field of personnel management as hundreds of local technical colleges, colleges of FE and sixth form colleges up and down the country prepare for incorporation and independence from their previous local authority control.

Supportive personnel training program based at a technical college

A supportive personnel training program based at a technical college is described. During the nine-month curriculum, the students spend time in the classroom and in a laboratory on the college campus. Part of the program is taught by the college faculty, providing the students with courses on basic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, medical vocabulary, typing, and math fundamentals. The other part of the curriculum is taught by pharmacists, including courses on hospital pharmacy, pharmacology, and pharmacy mathematics. The students' first experiences with unit-dose and i.v.-admixture programs are in an artificial laboratory under controlled conditions. Later in the program, the students rotate through each of the participating hospitals for thorough on-the-job training. By combining the resources of a local technical college and the area hospitals, a uniform program of training supportive personnel has been implemented that produces enough technical support for all the participating hospital pharmacies.

Labour History and Labour

The tasks confronting socialist historians remain manifold. Practically denied the history of their own class throughout the school system, an example par excellence of bourgeois social and cultural domination, the working-class is raised, suffering from what can be termed 'historical amnesia'. This has obvious political ramifications as it not accidentally handicaps the development of class and political consciousness. Given all this, one task of the socialist historian should be to co-operate with working-class activists and others in mutually sharing knowledge and experience with a view to discovering identity and overcoming the retarding effects of 'historical amnesia'. The following is an account of one such attempt. No claim will be made for this being a blueprint to follow, or indeed for its being the only way that history can be used in developing political and class awareness. Nevertheless, it may illustrate one positive role for the socialist historian. In Blackburn there exists a WEA branch run entirely by working-class members, some of whom are shop stewards, others active in the local Labour Party. This branch was formed five years ago by a small group of shop-stewards after they had attended a course on the Tory Industrial Relations Act at the local Technical College. In their own words, they found the informal teaching methods used by the course tutor, Clive Edwards (who subsequently encouraged the formation of the branch) a revelation.' This was not surprising, as all or most of their education was confined to secondary modern schools at a time when authoritarian and teacher-centred learning methods remained practically unchallenged. The net result of this experience was an avowed distaste for 'education', however perceived; and consequently, cultural repression another instance of bourgeois control. As the tutor responsible for this branch, I was asked, after giving a course on 'Social Problems', to give one on 'History'. However, instead of my being the sole tutor, it was agreed that a number of speakers should participate and that I would co-ordinate and integrate the course. Besides fulfilling the declared wishes of the branch, this provided the opportunity to involve several sympathetic speakers with a group of working-class adults. The eager and enthusiastic manner in which those who were approached responded, clearly demonstrated how important and rare an occasion they felt this to be. Furthermore and this was crucial to the success of the course this arrangement allowed non academic 'worker-historians' to take part. By inviting a number of these, two goals could be achieved. Firstly, 'worker-historians' with similar backgrounds to the branch members could help shatter the myths and mystique propagated about academic scholarship, which again culminate in repressing the political and cultural advancement of the mass of the people. Secondly, there could be no finer way to illustrate the link between knowledge and political awareness and consciousness, as all the 'worker-historians' who were to participate had lifelong records of class activity.

The human costs of part-time day release

Four cohorts of “unqualified” school leavers, starting in part-time day release engineering courses in local technical colleges between 1950 and 1960 were the subjects of four studies during their first three years at college. 35% (714) of them replied to a questionnaire sent out in 1966. The enquiry covered their achievement at college, their careers in industry and the relationship between the two. Response rates were biased in favour of the more successful in the early years at college. This paper is concerned with the 110 respondents (17%) who had obtained a Higher National Certificate by 1966. The percentages varied with time from about 40% for those starting in 1950 down to 9% for the 1960 cohort. The evidence presented suggests that despite an inbuilt failure rate on the part-time National Certificate courses some students persisted against the odds for as long as twelve years in order to achieve professional qualifications by this route. This heavy price in terms of human endeavour is contrasted with the cost-benefit analyses of the economists which show that the production of qualified manpower by the HNC route provides higher rates of return to society than full-time University courses. In answer to the question about their plans for the education of their own children 59% of all respondents and 77% of those who had achieved the higher qualification wanted longer schooling, University degree and other full-time courses. It seems unlikely that those who have themselves struggled for years along the “cheap”, “hard way” will readily accept economic arguments for the continuation of these conditions for the next generation.

Language training principles of effective language training in industry and commerce

If Britain enters the Common Market within the next few years, four‐fifths of the population of what will then be the British home market will be non‐English speaking by birth. A small number of British companies already have properly‐organised company language training programmes. In this article the author discusses the principles of effective language training in the hope that this will encourage others to follow suit, whether such training is carried out within the company, at a local technical college, or at a commercial language school.

CHANGES IN INTELLIGENCE TEST SCORES OF ENGINEERING APPRENTICES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND THIRD YEARS OF ATTENDANCE AT COLLEGE

Summary. A group of part‐time day release engineering students in three local technical colleges were given a verbal and a non‐verbal intelligence test early in their first year, and half way through their third year. Statistically significant gains were made on the verbal test at all levels of initial score. Students who had no failures in the previous two examinations showed greater gains than those who had failed at least once. Gains also varied according to the initial differences in level between verbal and non‐verbal scores. The results are compared with those obtained with University students using the same verbal test, and explanations in terms of intellectual growth, practice effects and “zeal in taking the examination” are discussed.

Apprentice Training — the first three years at Lancaster

The problem of apprentice training in the small Arm has found various partial solutions in group apprenticeship schemes, the use of Government Training Centres and in workshop training courses at a local technical college. This is a description of the first three years' experience in one of the earliest of the college courses

ELEMENTARY PRACTICAL ELECTROTECHNOLOGY

There has been a tendency during the last few years for pupils at secondary modern schools to make a start on work normally done at technical college. The introduction of the first stages of senior work at secondary modern level prepares pupils for the college type of work and eases the transition from school to part‐time day release. In some cases arrangements can be made with the local technical college to exempt students from the first year of a trade course leading to a City and Guilds Certificate.

Post-graduate activities in electrical engineering

The purpose of the paper is to focus attention on the important period following apprenticeship, to review present facilities for post-graduate work during this period, and to consider the possibility of still more collaboration between industry and the universities. In order to develop the theme, a brief review is made of the basic education and training of electrical engineers up to the close of apprenticeship. The rate of increase in technical staff required to meet the steady expansion of the industry, without lowering standards, is then considered.A period of vital importance follows apprenticeship, for then the engineer should begin to develop creative power. The creative faculty is linked with concentration of effort, from which arises the need for specialization.The paper goes on to describe the present post-graduate activities in industry, the universities and the technical colleges, and in particular the collaboration between the authors&apos; own organization and the local technical college. Special courses based on industry are described, particularly the advanced engineering course.The close collaboration between industry and the universities and colleges characterizing present activities should be extended to future activities. The proposed future activities are discussed at length, especially the problem of post-graduate research, which, it is suggested, might be done mainly in industry rather than wholly at the university. Quantitative data give the records of approximately 200 members of representative design departments.