Ellen Schwab and Susan Walling

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is one of 15 public colleges and universities in Massachusetts’ educational system. As declared in the BHCC mission statement, “The system exists to provide accessible, affordable, relevant, and rigorous academic programs that adapt to meet changing individual and societal needs for education and employment.” Furthermore, the mission statement of BHCC asserts, “The student body reflects the diversity of the urban community and encouraging this diversity is an essential part of the college mission.” The Allied Health Certificates Program (AHCP) is an education and training program within Bunker Hill Community College that has accomplished all these objectives and has been able to achieve an approximate 80 percent rate of graduation over the last three years (2004-2006). Examining the AHCP program design and methodology provides insight into the type of learning environment that has effectively promoted student success.

Description and Composition of the Program. The Allied Health Certificates Program began in 1986 with funds from the city of Boston for 20 immigrant workers and refugees. What began as a pilot program for 20 students has evolved into one that offers students four certificate options in the field of health care: medical assistant, patient care assistant, phlebotomy technician, and medical lab assistant. The program continues to be committed to assisting disadvantaged students to obtain integrated health care training. As shown in the chart below, a diverse cross section of students have enrolled in AHCP and the outcomes have been impressive.

1998-2006 AHCP Enrollment and Student Outcomes

Mission of the Program. The current mission statement for the Allied Health Certificates Program reads, “The Allied Health Certificate Program will provide students with the education and training they need to become health care providers. Program staff will focus on the needs of students to help them gain the skills required for success in the work place, continued education, and achieving long-term goals.” This mission statement contains language and goals similar to the missions of the Massachusetts System and BHCC. Naturally, in order to be effective, every mission requires a plan for the implementation of the stated goals. In order to accomplish this, it is first important to understand what the program is attempting to teach and then who is being taught.

The first part of this mission is straightforward: “The Allied Health Certificates Program will provide students with the education and training they need to become health care providers.” The statement doesn’t say anything about student success; it simply says that the education and training for the health care specialties need to be provided. There are specific, identifiable clinical, office, and computer skills required for each of the jobs students are being trained to do; therefore, a curriculum that includes teaching all of these skills has been developed.

The second sentence begins by stating that the “program staff will focus on the needs of the students.” Logically, an assessment of the students is required in order to determine their needs. The program enrolls a diverse range of students and the 71 percent completion rate suggests that the program works well, even with such a diverse population. How is this accomplished?

Program Design. The Allied Health Certificates Program was built on a foundation of grants, which were largely outcome based. This created a program culture that is results oriented and focuses on all participant groups, including students and employers, as customers. It also has enabled the composition and responsibilities of staff members to be created based on that focus, and has produced a high level of student support and assistance.

The current staff consists of a full-time program director, a program assistant, two full-time registered nurse instructors, a clinical placement coordinator, a program counselor, a lab assistant, and several adjunct instructors and clinical instructors for nursing assistant training and phlebotomy cross-training who were hired through employers. The program enrolls between 115 and 135 students per year. The composition of staff and students creates a relatively small learning community within the larger community college. The existence of the Allied Health community has produced a supportive environment for students.

Each student admitted to the program goes through an individual application, assessment, and admission process. After the student is admitted to the program, an individualized course selection and schedule is designed. The academic plan is devised for the academic level, goals, and personal circumstances of each student. This approach creates for each student an early, firm connection with the program and its staff. The Allied Health Program conducts its own orientation, in addition to the one organized for the college as a whole.

AHCP’s diverse student body presents a greater challenge than more homogeneous populations. It is simply not enough to provide the course content and training experiences that correlate to a particular health care specialty. Diverse groups have more varied needs, which teachers must assess and consider. The program’s core curriculum is designed so that each course works in relation to the others and to the world of work in health care. There are special integrated courses for English as a Second Language and below-college-level students, which reinforce the concepts they are being taught in their core courses. A variety of teaching methods are implemented, targeting the wide range of student learning styles, academic levels, language considerations, and ages, and the diverse ethnic, racial, and experiential backgrounds of the students.

Students are offered the opportunity of obtaining cross-training and multiple certifications that make employment in several types of health care jobs possible. Each student’s schedule is determined and planned according to his or her placement test results and individual goals. Students are placed in internships where they get the opportunity to put their classroom learning into practice and gain valuable work experience. Students also participate in a practicum seminar in which they develop professional résumés, reference sheets, and cover letters, and work on additional employment readiness skills.

The design of the program allows student progress and participation to be closely monitored by staff. Since the program is largely self-contained, staff and instructors are in frequent communication regarding student progress and issues. Therefore, issues that could potentially interfere with student success can be quickly identified, assessed, and resolved. The design also creates an atmosphere of collegiality among students. Class scheduling is conducive to the natural formation of student support groups, study groups, and networks.

A Formula for Success. The Allied Health Certificates Program provides careful assessment of incoming students, instructional schedules and support tailored to students’ needs, an enhanced orientation process, careful monitoring of student progress to promote student success, and supplementary studying and tutoring opportunities. Counseling and advising is available, both individually and within the course curriculum, to assist students in determining and designing a plan to achieve their goals. The cohesiveness of the program design enables students to form mentoring relationships with staff, who know who the students are and are therefore better able to guide them in a consistent manner.

Because ACHP is a two-semester certificate program within a community college, students have the chance to obtain credentials that not only enable them to advance professionally, but also serve as building blocks for academic and career advancement. This arrangement introduces students to the world of higher education, providing them with academic success and giving them confidence to continue to achieve and advance. The purpose of the AHCP is to prepare students for success in the world of work so the relationship of the academic courses to the world of work is critical. Here, the role of student internships is key. Real work experience related to course work makes both work and academics more interesting and relevant.

The Allied Health Certificates Program is a small learning community, resembling something like the school-within-a school model. Research has shown that this model seems particularly promising for disadvantaged students, who are positively affected by smaller learning environments but are more likely to attend larger schools. AHCP offers a supportive learning environment within a larger one.

Community colleges, by nature and purpose, serve diverse populations; that is a part of their beauty. Innovative and creative ways of engaging students and helping them learn and thrive are crucial to the success of the missions of these educational institutions. Perhaps developing and supporting more programs like the Allied Health Certificates Program is a way of providing more postsecondary students with the learning environments they need to grow and flourish.

Ellen Schwab is the Program Counselor and Susan Walling is the Director of Allied Health Certificate Programs at Bunker Hill Community College, Massachusetts.

Cynthia Wilson, Editor