Toward the end of the Spring 2016 semester, the Heart Center at Navicent Health contacted the Health Sciences Division at Central Georgia Technical College on the idea of a Cardiovascular Externship Program between the two organizations. When the summer semester started, students went to work, and the idea became a reality.

“We wanted to foster a relationship that allows CGTC students to be a part of the largest (cardiovascular) program in Macon that prepares them for whatever avenue they chose after graduation,” said Michelle McClure, director of the Heart Center. “It also benefits us to ensure the highest quality graduates come through the program to ensure we have the best talent to choose from for future positions in our organization.”

Under the design of McClure, the structure of the externship links second-semester students in the Cardiovascular Technology program with the Heart Center in order to transition them into fulltime and part-time work, while at the same time increasing the Center’s retention of potential employees.

According to Tiffani Strickland, program chair for Cardiovascular Technology, Echocardiography and Electrocardiography, the set-up is such that students ideally are able to clock in and out, working for pay when not in class or clinical training.

Externs work in areas where they will gain exposure to complicated cases within the cardiovascular field that they may not otherwise have. Navicent Health currently offers a similar program to nursing students as nursing externs.

One of the externs, Miranda Bellew, said she was just looking for a job when the externship was mentioned, but that now that she is working her growth in the profession feels validated.

“I feel like I’ve gained more confidence in doing my job,” Bellew said. “I also feel it has given me an edge due to the fact that I am getting more time in than the rest of my peers. Also, the managers at the hospital see me more often and it gets my foot in the door at a major hospital. So, I feel like I’ve gained a lot from the position.”

McClure noted that the professionalism of CGTC students ingrained in them at the College is something they are looking for in their employees.

With only a few students working in the Cardiovascular Externship with the Heart Center as of August, it is still too early to tell whether this externship has proven successful for both organizations, but according to Strickland and McClure assuring it continues to grow is their top priority.

“The program is new,” Strickland said, “but right now they, Medical Center, haven’t set a limit on numbers, so the opportunity is available to all currently enrolled Cardiac Cath students, who have completed the first semester within the program.