From TCC to Tarleton, University Health Care Programs Expand to Meet Workforce Demands

Using shielded syringes and proper calibration techniques, students in Tarrant County College’s Nuclear Medicine Technology program learn to use small amounts of radioactive substances to diagnose and treat disease.

“It’s really more about physiology than anatomy. You can circulate the patient, and it’s almost like seeing a movie of the patient,” said Vineet Patel, one of the students in the class. It described the imaging technique used in nuclear medicine, where a patient is injected – flowed – with small amounts of a radioactive substance to take a look inside the body. “You see the blood flowing. You see how well an organ functions.

There is a whole list of reasons why Patel and other students are training to become nuclear medicine technicians. They want to enter a growing field. They like to have a lot of interaction with patients. And then there is the salary.

“I want a steady income and money, not living paycheck to paycheck,” said Kim Bernal of Mansfield. She has three young children, and her husband and mother help her with the children while she takes classes and completes a clinical internship at a local hospital. “It’s for my children’s future.”

Bernal graduated from high school in 2010 and worked as a social worker in the healthcare field. When it was time for her to go back to school, she looked for a career where there was growth and money. The 2023 median annual salary for nuclear medicine technologists is $92,500, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And there is growth.

“I can’t get enough students to graduate and get them finished fast enough,” said Tonya Pigulski, director of the nuclear medicine technology program. “There is such a demand.”

The program is small, selective and demanding. Each year, around fifty TCC students who have taken the prerequisite courses apply. About fifteen are admitted and about ten graduate. This is just one program in the Center for Health Professions at TCC’s Trinity River East Campus, where courses are taught in health information technology, diagnostic medical sonography, and other growing areas.

“I think Texas is no different (from the rest of the country) in the sense that the health care sector is expected to continue to have increased needs,” said Rahul Sreenivasan, policy advisor with Texas 2036, an organization non-partisan research and defense of public policies. .

In a recent report, Texas 2036 projects that healthcare jobs in the state will increase by 8% between 2021 and 2026.

“Again, this reflects an aging population and increased prevalence of chronic diseases,” Sreenivasan said.

Academic fields such as registered nursing, certified practical nursing, emergency medical technology, biological sciences, and psychology are among the top 20 fields in terms of students enrolled at Texas community colleges. At Texas public universities, nursing, psychology, biology and kinesiology are among the top 10 fields in terms of enrollment, according to an April 2023 Texas 2036 workforce trends report. artwork.

At Tarleton State University in Fort Worth, which will open a new building this fall to house classrooms and laboratories for its College of Health Sciences, a needs assessment was conducted to help determine programs it would offer.

“It was really about surveying the community and listening to them and looking at different data sets,” said Ramona Parker, executive dean of Tarleton’s College of Health Sciences. “We decided which programs to offer, from nursing to medical laboratory science to speech pathology and kinesiology, which can lead into physical therapy or occupational therapy.

Parker said the university — both in Fort Worth and at its main campus in Stephenville — is addressing the nursing shortage in rural areas.

“There are very few health care providers, like nurses, doctors, physical therapists and occupational therapists in these areas,” Parker said. “We just want to be part of that solution.”

Tarrant County colleges and universities are working on solutions to the nursing shortage. This fall, the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth will welcome its first group of students to its College of Nursing. This fall, they will offer registered nurses a pathway to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Next year, a general bachelor’s degree program in nursing is expected to start.

The University of Texas at Arlington will also introduce an undergraduate certificate in rural health this fall. UTA also expanded its social work and health care facilities. In 2023, they opened a new Smart Hospital/School of Social Work building, spanning over 150,000 square feet.

At TCU’s Pre-Health Professions Institute, enrollment has doubled over the past 10 years and the university plans to introduce a public health major.

“We have an aging population, we have an aging workforce in health care and we are seeing a decline in the number of people remaining in health care throughout the trajectory of my predecessors,” said Sylvia Trent-Adams, President. from the UNT Health Sciences Center, who spoke at a recent university leadership event.

Trent-Adams and other area higher education leaders are developing programs to train their students for jobs in a growing industry.

Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open campus. Contact her at [email protected].

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