With males making up less than 6% of medical programs, Albany Tech sees room for growth
Feb. 18—ALBANY — With a projected shortage of registered nurses nationally of as many as 450,000 by 2025, the opportunities in the field would seem to be wide open, and one potentially untapped resource to help fill the gap is males.
As Baby Boomers age and retire and also join the ranks of those needing nursing care themselves, the demand for licensed practical nurses and nurse aides for home and nursing home jobs also will increase.
Closer to home, the number of males looking to enter health care professions at Albany Technical College total 54 out of 1,021 currently enrolled.
"In health care, 5.2% of our population of males has actually chosen a health care track," Lisa Stephens, the dean of business and health care technology at Albany Tech, said. "Among African American males, 5.6% have chosen health care."
The technical college has three nursing programs: an associate's degree in science in nursing to train RNs, a practical nursing program for future LPNs, and a nursing aide certificate program.
Other associate's degree programs include pharmacy technology, surgical technology and radiologic technology, as well as paramedicine technology and health information management technology.
Diploma programs are available in dental assisting, pharmacy technology, health information coding, EMS professions and medical assisting.
Certificate programs, which are shorter and mainly for entry-level positions, include phlebotomy and pharmacy.
Last week, Albany Tech presented a panel discussion sponsored by the Student Wellness: Mental, Academic and Physical Preparedness PBI Grant program aimed at dispelling some of the stereotypes about males who work in medical jobs. One of the goals of the grant program is to increase the number of African American males enrolling and completing degree or certificate programs.
"One group we are focusing on is in health care, our most underrepresented group," Stephens said. "For MAPP, health care is a focus. Our overall goal is to get more males in to health care."
While the trend of women moving into more male-dominated professions has been ongoing, the movement in the other direction — males into jobs traditionally held by women — has not, she said.
"While there are increases, it's just not at the same rate," Stephens said. "One of the things we learned from our panel last night is there is a need in health care. We're trying to overcome this stigma or stereotypes."
For nurses, area salaries can range from about $26,530 for nurse aides to $69,600 for registered nurses, she said.
Other certificate and degree programs in medicine have salaries ranging from about $33,000 to $46,800.
"One of the stereotypes is they're low-paying," Stephens said. "These are really good-paying salaries. And it's better for (medical) outcomes."
