HEALTH MANPOWER EDUCATION . by Reed M. Stringham, Jr. D.D.S., Ph.D. Dr. Reed M. Stringham, Jr. is presently Assistant Dean for Health Occupations Education at Weber State. Dr. Stringham is a graduate of the University of Utah, receiving a B.S. in Medical Biology in 1954. He then attended the Northwestern University Dental School where he graduated with a D.D.S. in 1958. After a four The Weber State College Role During the past several years the problems of health, health care and the supply of health care workers has made “health” an area of high priority for local, state and national planning. In 1970 the health care industry in the United States was the second largest with expenditures in excess of $70 billion, amounting to some 7 per cent of our gross national product. Even with this tremendous expenditure, health care delivery and its cost continues to be a major, national problem. With the addition of new technology and increased patient demands the need for health manpower is increasing at an alarming rate. In 1900 the physician and dentist were the prime health workers with a ratio of only 2 supporting professionals for each physician. This ratio increased to 13 allied health professionals for each physician in 1970 and is predicted to increase to the unbelievable figure of 100 to 1 in the next decade. The list of job titles in occupations allied to health have increased from 42 to 269 in only 6 years. Despite this growth in number and type of supportive health care workers, coordinated development of paramedical education has until very recent years been nonexistent. In emphasizing this point the President’s Commission on Health Manpower stated “needs in medicine, dentistry and nursing have received major attention for a number of years and fairly well-defined goals for vocational progress and expansion have been established. However, with few exceptions, relatively little attention has been given to the needs and educational potential for many allied health occupations which are essential to modern health service.” Historically, most allied health workers were trained in the hospital setting in a type of on-the-job system, first as a piece-meal attempt to satisfy patient needs and finally as an organized effort of the hospital to fulfill one of its major committments — that of education. As groups of health workers became somewhat specialized in their training, they banded together to form professional organizations. The natural outgrowth of _ these organizations was the establishment of by-laws and many year hitch in the Air Force Dr. Stringham opened a dental practice, which he closed in 1965 to continue studies at the University of Utah. In 1968 Dr. Stringham was granted a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Utah. Before coming to Weber State, Dr. Stringham was a research associate with the University of Utah, College of Medicine and an instructor in the department of molecular Biology at the University. Dr. Stringham is eminently qualified for his position with the new Department of Health Occupations Education and Weber State is very pleased to have him on the faculty. of these by-laws included in them as a pre-requisite for membership some period of academic training. As a result of this, the institutions of higher learning became an integral part of the training setting for health occupations workers. As these educational programs moved to the college campus an effort was made to provide for the most efficient coordination, the most economical use of facilities, faculty and other resources, as well as the best use of the students time and energy through the creation of colleges or schools of allied health. These administrative units have emerged as coordinating agencies for educational planning in allied health for large geographical regions. The establishment of such a coordinating unit for the State of Utah is of paramount importance. Mr. Peter Billings, Chairman of the Utah State Board of Higher Education, recently stated that “problems to be solved in the next few years would include a program for paramedical education not on an ad hoc basis but on the basis of State-wide plan.” More recently the Board has indicated that “Weber State College should concentrate on developing programs in the allied health occupations at the pre-baccalaureate level with primary emphasis being given to one-, two-, and three-year programs,” and that “Weber State College should work toward a school of allied health education.” Consistent with the College’s long-range plans and the State role, Weber State College can serve as a coordinator and developer of the above-noted, State-wide plan for health occupations education. in The health professions educational program at Weber cooperation with affiliated hospitals and other College for program expanding an offers departments currently the education of health care workers. Our programs emphasize an integration of liberal arts, basic sciences and clinical experience which will enable the graduate to make of 4 maximum contribution to patient care as a member the health care team. Programs for the training and Degree Associate education of Licensed Practical Nurses, Nurses, Medical Technologists, Radiologic Technologists, and Respiratory Therapists are ongoing at Weber State. the An integration of the commonalities of knowledge of various disciplines of health occupations is made available to our students through a series of core courses. This core terminology, ethics, medical includes material interpersonal relationships, the psychology of the sick of disease and an processes the to on patient, an introducti additional segment available to those students needing an introduction to the study of drugs. The area of health occupations currently has 14 full-time; 7 part-time faculty members and an additional 37 clinical faculty members who give their time on a donation basis in offering enrichment and their special expertise to our students. Weber’s health occupations programs are affiliated with the St. Benedict’s Hospital, the McKay-Dee Hospital Center, L.D.S. Hospital and Primary Children’s Hospital. It is through the excellent cooperation of these clinical facilities that the complete training of health care workers is made possible, as no health worker can be trained in isolation from the health complex of which he will become a part. The Nursing Department is taking on a new look with the scheduled implementation in the fall of a combined Licensed Practical Nurse and Associate Nurse Program and also the implementation of the recently funded Utah State University-Weber State College cooperative associate degree program in the Cache Valley area. Weber State College has also been given a leadership role in the development of associate degree nursing for the Salt Lake area. These programs are especially exciting as they are the first attempts at coordination for associate degree nursing programs in the State. Our Respiratory Therapy Program graduated its first class in June of this year, thereby providing much-needed therapists for our Region. Weber State is continuing to develop, with the aid of the Intermountain Regional Medical Program, a model Respiratory Therapy laboratory for the Intermountain West. Our teaching laboratory will become a center for workshops and continuing education in Respiratory Therapy in our region. With the beginning of Fall Quarter, many of the classes in and X-ray Technology will be Technology Medical conducted in our new on-campus laboratory facilities thus for their use in service to the facilities hospital freeing the patient. With the addition over the past two years of Dr. Reed Stringham as the Director for Health Occupations, Dr. John McDonald as the Chairman of the Department of Health Occupations, Mrs. Leola Davidson as Chairman of the Department of Nursing, Mrs. Joyce Wanta as the Technical Director of Respiratory Therapy and Dr. Lew Wood as the administrator of X-Ray Technology a very fine administrative team now exists in health occupations at Weber State and we look toward the establishment of the School of Allied Health and the coordination and development of a state-wide plan for health occupations education. the next two years we are projecting the Within development of a program for the training of Medical Records Technicians, and also for the implementation of a dental auxillary program the first phase of which would be Dental Hygiene Education. Our overall, long-range goal encompasses the need for a comprehensive training plan for allied health workers for the entire State of Utah. Such a program must be founded on an educationally sound basis and must provide for in-depth career counseling to begin as early as junior high. It must provide in a specific and well-organized manner for career advancement both forward and laterally. It must provide for an educational program which is relevent to the tasks involved in patient care and also the community needs. In order to accomplish these tasks a centralized school for the training of allied health workers must be established in our State. Finally, only through a working partnership between the employer, the academic community, the practitioner, and health care consumers can a more relevent and more efficient program for the training and education of all health workers be attained. Marguerite Keller, Pres. William ALTRUIST CLUB LOAN FUND P, Miller ESTABLISHES A student loan fund has been instituted at Weber State College by the Ogden Altruist Club with a $500 contribution. A check in that sum was presented to WSC President William P. Miller by club delegates Marguerite H. Keller, president and Mrs. Gene (Hazel) Robinson fund raising chairman. The Altruist Club of 44 members provides financial help to several organizations including the cerebral palsy clinic at the Gramercy School, Mrs. Keller said. She said it is the plan of Altruist members to make further donations to their WSC loan fund, which has been set up as the Altruist Club Student Loan Fund at Weber State. It will be administered by the WSC Development Fund whose director Dean W. Hurst is working with community groups to enlist donors of student loans. President Miller thanked the Altruist members for their support of Weber’s various education programs, and recalled that several years ago the club gave the college $500 to buy books for the library.