Seven recent high school graduates have begun apprenticeships at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas designed to help them earn certifications as patient care technicians.
Part of Texas Health’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative, the Patient Care Technician Apprenticeship program is a collaboration with Dallas College and the U.S. Department of Labor. All the apprentices are Dallas Independent School District graduates who followed medical and information technology career tracks in high school.
“We are proud to be part of this important program, which will guide young graduates from underserved areas of Dallas into exciting healthcare careers,” said Jim Parobek, president of Texas Health Dallas. “We have made a commitment to our community and to the future of healthcare with this program.”
The students and their schools are: Lawren Bailey, Alexa Lopez and Yaleisa Rodriguez, W.H. Adamson High School; Elizabeth Henriquez, Sunset High School; Manuel Mondragon Gonzalez, L.G. Pinkston High School; Mariah Torres, Moises E. Molina High School; and Aracely Trevizo Ortega, Emmett J. Conrad High School.
“I’ve wanted to be in healthcare since I was a little kid,” said Mondragon Gonzalez, who added that he has cousins who are PCTs.
Already fully employed by Texas Health Resources, they’ll sit for certification exams after 10 weeks of study and then be paired with mentors and work with patients for a year of on-the-job training. The goal is for them to continue their careers at Texas Health with full-time PCT jobs.
But for now, “their job is to learn eight hours a day,” said Candy Baptist, B.S.N., R.N., MHSM, CENP, director, Texas Health Career Transformation Center. Later, she said, “they can grow their careers at Texas Health into whatever they want to be.”
The current classroom training will prepare them to study further with Texas Health Resources University to become EKG or monitor technicians.
The classes, which include professional development as well as technical skills, are being taught by Dallas College faculty. The tuition is paid by the Department of Labor, which also is providing two pairs of scrubs and a stethoscope for each participant, Baptist said.
Texas Health’s People and Culture team and Texas Health Government and Community Affairs also were involved in helping put the apprenticeships together.
“This program shows the Texas Health’s strength in collaborating both within the organization and with the communities we serve,” said Mark Morales, vice president and chief learning officer. “We hope this will serve as the basis for more programs guiding youth into healthcare careers.”
Work already is underway to look at other campuses that might house similar programs in the coming months.
