Springfield's governing board for the Alliance for Healthcare Education met, chose its leader and outlined work to get done over the next few months.
The next step in health care education and training starts this week.
Registration for 50 spots in a new health care-focused Springfield Public Schools Choice program will open for students Nov. 1. The spots are open to high school sophomores with good attendance and behavior, and will be decided by a lottery followed by an interview process.
The alliance is a new group created by SPS, Ozarks Technical Community College, Missouri State University and CoxHealth, and its focused track is the first chance for students to get involved in the alliance's goal of increasing the number of health care workers.
It will operate within the Middle College program at OTC, where students will attend classes at the college’s campus on Chestnut Expressway throughout their junior and senior years of high school. Tuition for the classes will be paid for by Springfield Public Schools, and they are scheduled to begin in fall ‘24.
An emphasis on bioscience for high school students
In that OTC program, students with minds for the health care field take a series of rigorous science courses that cover biology, medical terminology, anatomy and physics.
With the SPS Choice connection from the alliance, those classes will have a bioclinical sciences emphasis, said Tiffany Brunner, director of Middle College for OTC. Ultimately, the two-year pathway will help students explore the medical field to figure out what career opportunities exist.
“We have this bioclinical science route for students who are going to take pretty difficult college classes, and their college lab will be very hard. They will be drawing down between 12 to 18 college hours while they are over here,” Brunner said. “What we want to do is help them figure out what it is that they want to do in health care. A lot of times students don’t always know what’s out there.
It basically has become a pre-med track for students interested in going directly to a career as a dental assistant, physical therapist or other openings. Students can lay foundations for a career as a certified nursing assistant or emergency medical technician, Brunner said, or they can get a look at different types of health care specialties.
In addition to coursework, they will get hands-on experience with hospitals through internships, Brunner said.
Katie Kensinger, coordinator of college and career readiness for Springfield Public Schools, said the district is working on letting parents and students know about the 50 openings through a variety of means.
“Every sophomore is going to get a postcard, and we have the information sessions,” Kensinger said. “But we also want to make sure that we are reaching out to those students who maybe already have a knack for the health science world, or have already expressed interest.”
Kensinger said career interest surveys and strength assessments are helping the district reach out to students who could get a lot of value from the program.
Events offer chance for questions
The month-long application process will help students and their families get questions answered, said Jason Steingraber, executive director for SPS Choice.
To that end, students and parents have two events they can attend for more information:
- SPS Choice Expo, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the John A. and Genny Morris Conservation Center, located at Campbell and Sunshine streets. This event will kick off the registration for all of the district’s SPS Choice programs, including its magnet schools and other programs, such as International Baccalaureate and aviation training program Fly SPS.
- SPS University, 5:30 p.m. at Glendale High School, located at 2727 S. Ingram Mill Road. This event will feature a resource fair, workshops focused on family support, how-to guides and more.
Steingraber said district officials will be ready to answer questions about this new opportunity.
“We want to get information out, but we also want to be able to provide a sit-down, face-to-face chance,” Steingraber said. “That’s why the expo and SPS University are key components to be able to talk granularly through those processes. And there is a big window, we have a whole entire month that students can apply and ask those questions.”
Aimed at meeting district and community goals
The openings in the SPS Choice program created by the alliance help tackle goals set by the school district, and the community.
Steingraber said the health care course will be just as consistent and compliant with Missouri Learning Standards as the rest of the SPS Choice programs. The standards are benchmarks set by the state for learning curriculum, either for college preparation or post-secondary training.
But because the programs have a specialized interest, they help keep students in attendance. The district has set a goal of increasing attendance district-wide by 2%.
“For the first quarter, within Choice programs we had more than 96% attendance rate,” Steingraber said. “That shows you students want to be there, and they are highly engaged.”
The Springfield community is in need of the 50 future graduates of this health care track, however — and a whole lot more.
The alliance was formed in response to a shortage of employees in the health care field. At the beginning of this year, CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield Hospital reported almost 2,000 job vacancies.
In its most recent study of workforce data, the Missouri Hospitals Association reported both turnover and vacancy of medical occupations for 2022 were slightly improved over 2021, but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The drop in employees is accompanied by a greater number of patients in need of services, as members of the Baby Boomer generation begin retirement.
