The central laboratory at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System in Munster is offering the clinical assistant program, a new initiative designed to prepare students interested in the healthcare field, specifically laboratory services.
The goal of the curriculum is to graduate well-qualified, well-educated individuals to meet the present and future demand in the clinical laboratory industry, according to Community Healthcare System.
The clinical assistant program serves as a way for Community Hospital, Munster, St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart to cultivate and fill entry level positions with well-qualified candidates in the hospital laboratories. Similarly, to meet the increasing demand for laboratory services professionals, Community Healthcare System first started training medical laboratory scientists in spring 2014.
“With a steady increase in the rate of groundbreaking medical advances, healthcare careers such as the clinical laboratory assistant are expected to increase by 29 percent over the next 10 years,” said Ethel Urbi, regional director of laboratory operations, Community Healthcare System. “As the number of complex tests increases in the laboratory, so does the need for support personnel. We’re taking a proactive approach to fill in-demand jobs now and in the future.”
Clinical assistant perform a variety of roles including patient registration, specimen collection such as drawing blood and preparing patient samples for laboratory testing. Clinical assistants also learn how to measure vital signs including blood pressure, administer EKGs, reconstitute reagents and perform equipment maintenance, calibration and quality control.
The 12-week program seeks recent high school graduates with an interest in the sciences and have taken courses that include biology, chemistry, algebra and English composition. The program includes classroom instruction in clinical laboratory sciences, hands-on student laboratory activities and clinical training under the supervision of a medical laboratory scientist.
Tuition for the 12-week program is $1,500. Upon successful completion of the course, graduates will be eligible to take a national certification exam such as the ASCP MLA however, graduation is not contingent upon taking or passing a national certification or licensure exam.
Classes are scheduled to begin Jan. 28, 2019. For more information visit COMHS.org/cap.
