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"Southwest Washington is facing a shortage of healthcare professionals," said Clark College Foundation Vice President Ara Serjoie. "Vacant positions in Washington's healthcare industry are projected to grow to 6,000 openings statewide in the next 10 years." To help address this expected shortage, Columbia Credit Union is supporting Clark College's development of a new healthcare core curriculum with a $10,000 donation.
The curriculum will serve as a launching point toward numerous health careers including traditional college classrooms, online delivery and early access to college-level healthcare education in high schools. Columbia's contribution will cover programming costs associated with the development of the pharmacy technology program's eLearning curriculum.
After a "Go Penguins!" exclamation, Colleen Boccia, Columbia's Senior Vice President stated, "With tight budgets and unemployment over 13 percent, we felt it was important to support local higher education. Clark provides an affordable resource for those contemplating a career change or needing continuing education credits in their current field." The new core curriculum and eLearning alternatives will serve students with increased efficiency, improved access to higher education and ability to pursue a variety of health professions.
Courses scheduled for implementation by fall 2010 include anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, basic health informatics, communication skills and ethics/confidentiality training.
"We're pleased that Columbia has stepped up for this endeavor in support of student success and program excellence at Clark College," said Ara. "This contribution makes Columbia Credit Union an important partner with Clark College in helping fill a critical need in our community."
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