OTC, Cox program pays students to learn. It also promises them a job.
CoxHealth and Ozarks Technical Community College welcomed their inaugural cohort of students to their Emergency Medical Technician apprenticeship program on Tuesday.
The 10 students will receive instruction and training free of charge, get paid an hourly wage as CoxHealth employees and will have guaranteed employment with CoxHealth after completing the program.
Nationally and in Missouri, hospitals are seeing staffing shortages and record turnover rates. While they've traditionally had low EMS turnover, CoxHealth Paramedicine Education Director Russ Scanlan said the hospital is bracing itself for a rough next couple of years, especially as the pandemic and the accompanying vaccine mandates led to many EMS providers leaving the profession.
More: Missouri Hospital Association report highlights 'full-blown crisis in hospital staffing'
"I think these kind of programs are a glimmer of light that we’re going to be able to work our way out of it, and we’re going to continue to put a high-quality product out there,” Scanlan said.
Josh Freeman, director of paramedicine at OTC, told students they'd "found the pot of gold" with the program. In the paramedicine program, he sees students who have to make the choice between school, family and work. Often, school is the element that has to go.
The apprenticeship program eliminates that difficult decision: "Work is school."
"The biggest thing for us, from the student side of it, is that the students are in class," Freeman said. "They’re paid to be in class, they’re not thinking that they need to pick up another shift, and then they also have the benefits of being a Cox employee — so they have some childcare options that are available, along with the OTC resources."
That aspect was part of what drew student Jeremy Hargett to the program.
"I was looking to get into this field and I came across this program. It made it possible for me to make this change, because I’m making a career change to do this and I have a family," Hargett said. "Going to school and all that is financially difficult, so this is a huge, huge deal for me."
Prior to the apprenticeship program, students would typically train at OTC before the hospital would hire them and have them complete an academy training process "that would be more specific to how the rubber meets the road," Scanlan said. Now, the practical training takes place alongside the OTC curriculum.
Freeman is optimistic that the program will lead to better outcomes for students.
"I think we’ll see an increase in retention, an increase in pass rates and increase in job performance because of how we’re doing it," he said. "I think we can prove with this first group that it’s a concept that works."
For Mya Chapman, the apprenticeship program offered her a chance to do more.
"I’ve always had a heart for helping people — I used to be a lifeguard — I always felt like I wanted to do more and broaden the spectrum of knowledge," Chapman said. "I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. When this opportunity came across, I was like, ‘That’s exactly what I want to do.’"
And if Chapman wants to keep learning, she'll have the opportunity to do that, as well.
Scanlan said the program will also include a plan for the students to advance once they're working for Cox, whether that's going to paramedic school, nursing school or moving toward teaching.
The summer EMT apprenticeship program will run through Aug. 8, and another section will be offered in the fall. Students must be a high school graduate, at least 18 years old and pass a background check. For more information, email hr-recruitment@coxhealth.com.
Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: OTC partners with CoxHealth for EMT apprenticeship program
