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
 www.NN2.org

Objectives



Understand and differentiate between standalone 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, costcontainment 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: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/11/art5full.pdf
Source: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/11/art5full.pdf
Source: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/11/art5full.pdf
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 2006 6o
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 2016.
 Can be short-term courses or multicourse certificate (up to 10 credit hours,
depending on college)

Source: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/11/art5full.pdf
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:
http://jfs.ohio.gov/workforce/workforceprof/Infobrief33-StackableCertificates.pdf
Stackable Certificates in Ohio

Source:
“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.”
http://jfs.ohio.gov/workforce/workforceprof/Infobrief33-StackableCertificates.pdf
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 atpromise 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




2 + 2 (Associate degree to Bachelor degree)
2 + 3 (Associate to Master’s)
4 + 2 (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…
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,
janell_lang@owens.edu
Anne Loochtan, Director of Distance Learning,
Cincinnati State Technical and Community
College, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Anne.loochtan@cincinnatistate.edu

http://www.nn2.org



Thank you!
This presentation will be
available beginning next week
from the NN2 website at:
 www.NN2.org (there will be a
direct link on the home page)

Newport Beach, CA
AACC WDI Jan. 09