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New pilot program to guide community college students into health care

Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College will be among the first to pilot an easier way for students to move from community college into medical and nursing schools.

By Chris Seper on February 09, 2009 1:37 pm
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two Ohio schools have launched a national initiative to guide more community college students into the health-care profession.

Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College will be among the first to launch the pilot program, dubbed the Pipeline to Medical Colleges Initiative.

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Students from the community college will take harder (but more easily transferable) classes, and receive mentoring and financial aid opportunities, according to an Ohio State University news release.

The program aims at training more physicians, and focuses on fields including nursing and respiratory therapy.

Overall, the project tries to address the need for more health-care professionals, attract low-income students as well as including African-American, American Indian and Latino students to enter medical careers; and find better ways to help students pay for education in health-care fields, according to documents detailing the program. It will also try to create a way to identify high-potential medical students in community college.

OSU cited a figure from the American Association of Community Colleges to support its connection with Columbus State Community College — 59 percent of new nurses and more than half of  health-care workers attended community colleges.

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