Copyright Live 5 News WCSC
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Lowcountry medical students will have a new option to gain hands-on experience before they enter more formal tech programs in their field. The Medical University of South Carolina and Trident Technical College launched an apprenticeship program to train students in medical imaging ahead of radiologic technology programs. The collaboration addresses a growing challenge in healthcare education as waitlists for the radiologic technologists program at Trident Tech can stretch as long as two years, making it the longest waitlist of all health science programs at the college. The bottleneck stems from a requirement that each student must be paired one-on-one with a preceptor, a technologist who supervises their training in diagnostic imaging. This limits how many students schools can accept because they cannot enroll more students than they have technologists to train them. Program fills gap for waitlisted students The new apprenticeship program allows students who are waitlisted at least two years for the radiologic technology program to start gaining experience at MUSC. The pilot program currently accepts two students and runs between two and four years, with plans to expand in the near future. Jonathan Valentine, MUSC’s director of workforce development, said interest in healthcare careers among Charleston County School District students has grown by 40% in recent years. “(There’s) a lot of interest at that age in that age group, but they don’t know exactly what their options are,” Valentine said. “To get somebody in at an early age, get them in the environment and let them make those choices and then provide them with the mentors or preceptors to help them grow those skills.” Valentine said the program addresses situations like his niece’s, a dual-enrolled high school student who has completed every health certification possible but is still waiting for the next step. “Even being a dual-enrolled high school student, she again has to reapply in the spring to know if she’s going to be able to get into the program in the fall,” Valentine said. “With a program like this, when we’re able to scale it up and spread it across the state, students can actually start training and being in the hospital, applying skills and getting paid immediately.” Growing demand for medical imaging professionals Valentine said demand for medical imaging professionals is expected to rise by at least 15% in the coming years. The competitive program helps institutions be more selective while addressing workforce needs. The partnership allows students to gain experience in the field without formal training while they wait for program openings. MUSC and Trident plan to expand the program across the state in upcoming years.
