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No Comments [ Add Comment ]WSU online medical tech program gets boost from laboratory
By BROOKE NELSONStandard-Examiner staff
bnelson@standard.net
OGDEN -- An online Weber State University program to train medical technologists will get a huge boost as it collaborates with ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City.
"Weber started a training program online a few years ago, and it's one of the few programs in the country like this. It is so well done and so well respected," said Ronald Weiss, ARUP president. "It will add a new dimension to medical technology training."
Fewer than half of the number of needed medical technologists graduate each year, Weiss said, so helping WSU expand its program is an important initiative for the company, which relies heavily on qualified laboratory personnel.
"We do hope that this will increase our online enrollment," said Scott Wright, chairman of the department of clinical laboratory sciences.
Weiss said ARUP has worked with Weber State for many years and this most recent collaboration will help the university find students who are eligible for the program.
The online program offers an associate degree and a bachelor's degree.
Many ARUP employees have already taken advantage of the program, Weiss said, but the real help to Weber State will come through the hundreds of contacts the company has with client hospitals and clinics nationwide.
The two organizations are hoping to attract employees at those hospitals and clinics seeking to further their educations.
"They are providing tremendous advertising for us," Wright said. "That part is extremely exciting for us."
Weber State started its online degree program eight years ago.
Weber State provides online education, and the hospital or clinic that employs the student provides laboratory training.
The new collaboration will help to increase awareness about the opportunities available through Weber State, Wright said.
Wright said the program has enrolled between 60 and 80 students on average, with 75 percent of them being out-of-state.
"We have lots of military students working in laboratories all over the world," he said.
Weiss says the program offers working adults the advantages of a college education without taking them from their place of employment.Wright said lab technicians who further their education are eligible to conduct a wider variety of tests and qualify for significant pay raises.
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