{"id":84,"date":"2019-03-28T16:39:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T16:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/the-snowball-effect-when-one-thing-leads-to-another\/"},"modified":"2019-04-08T23:32:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T23:32:14","slug":"the-snowball-effect-when-one-thing-leads-to-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/the-snowball-effect-when-one-thing-leads-to-another\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cSnowball Effect\u201d When One Thing Leads To Another"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron DeLeon, a 24-year-old sophomore at NCTC is enrolled in the Surgical Technology program<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>His path to higher education started with dual credit<\/a> courses taken at Gainesville High School, then he spent a semester at the University of Texas at Arlington in the fall of 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d he notes, explaining that he returned to NCTC for personal reasons that included the expected birth of his first son. For employment and income, he took a little more than a year off from academic pursuits to work in oil fields and on wind turbines with companies in Houston and Odessa, but eventually, he returned to Gainesville to complete his Associate of Arts degree by the spring of 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

DeLeon also became interested in surgical technology and now attends classes at the Corinth campus. His plan is to finish that certification<\/a> in August 2019, then take other core classes through the spring of 2020 in preparation of a transfer to the University of North Texas to pursue a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a good support system at NCTC and I\u2019ve always felt welcome and at home,\u201d he says, adding that he\u2019s been able to work at his own pace and feels the college has given him \u201ca very strong basis\u201d for higher level courses.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally I was going to stop at surgical technology, but throughout the program I have been given some amazing support and advice from my instructors,\u201d he says. That inspired his latest goal: to apply to UNT\u2019s Physician\u2019s Assistant program at the UNT Health and Science Center. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

DeLeon\u2019s story \u2014 and the evolution of his career trajectory \u2014 isn\u2019t that unusual. Often, students head to NCTC aiming for an associate degree as a stepping stone to a bachelor\u2019s, while others test the waters first with a certification in <\/span>a specialty like medical billing or <\/span>phlebotomy in hopes of gaining new or additional skills necessary for employment, with a plan to work and help finance their educations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe noncredit <\/span>classes often get <\/span>the ball rolling,\u201d says <\/span>dean of Health Sciences<\/a>, Bonita M. Vinson.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSomeone comes to us to take a noncredit <\/span>class just because they want some additional job skills. They might come for training to be a certified nurse aide so they <\/span>can get to work quickly. Then they may <\/span>become interested in the LVN program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NCTC\u2019s Health Sciences Licensed Vocational Nursing<\/a> (LVN) pathway is a 12-month certificate program approved by the Texas Board of Nursing.\u00a0 <\/span>After finishing their coursework, LVN students earn a certificate of completion and may make application to write the National Council Licensing Examination – Practical Nurse (NCLEX-PN).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOr a person might start with sterile processing, then look over and say, \u2018I wonder what nursing or surgical tech is all about,\u2019\u201d Vinson adds. \u201cPretty soon, they\u2019re looking at those and other career options.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s a pretty common progression.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Labor statistics and higher wages lend additional support to the \u201csnowball effect\u201d among Allied Health professions. For instance, training for a career as a surgical technologist leads students to a field with a median salary of $45,160 and an employment outlook that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will grow by 12 percent in the next eight years.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Several of NCTC\u2019s certificate programs are linked to associate degrees too,\u201d Vinson adds. Besides the Associate Degree in Nursing<\/a> (ADN), she points to programs like the paramedic program which touts a three-semester and 38-credit-hours paramedic certificate or progression to an Associate of <\/span>
\nApplied Science degree in Paramedicine<\/a> \u2014 spanning four <\/span>semesters and 60 credit hours. Similarly, Surgical Technology, Radiology and Fire Science have both certificates and associate degrees. The Basic Firefighter certification is achieved in 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

To read ADDITIONAL PROFILES visit us online at:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>nctc.mycareerfocus.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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The phrase \u201cAllied Health\u201d isn\u2019t particularly familiar to people who aren\u2019t in the healthcare industry, NCTC\u2019s dean of Health Sciences, Bonita M. Vinson, says. \u201cA helpful way to describe it is to say: \u2018You have doctors and nurses, and then everything else falls under Allied Health.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NCTC\u2019s Health Sciences department has 12 health-related certificate programs,<\/b> all under the category of \u201cAllied Health Professions.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The list includes:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n