Pilot Media - Healthcare Prognosis Winter 2015

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Healthcare Prognosis February 2 February 2015 015

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Rewarding Jobs, Great Pay

Allied Health Careers: Anything But Ordinary Doctors and nurses may be the first thing you think of when you hear the word healthcare, but standing alongside of them are hundreds of allied health professionals in fields as diverse as radiology, pharmacology and health information systems.

In fact, allied health occupations claim around 60 percent of jobs in the healthcare industry and most will see significant growth through 2022, according to projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov).

“And yet, allied health often gets lost when people are thinking about healthcare jobs,” says Thomas Calogrides, dean of health professions at Tidewater Community College’s Virginia Beach campus. “But these are all jobs in demand, most of them pay very well and there’s a relatively short academic curricula to move through.”

One factor fueling the growth in allied health jobs is the Affordable Care Act, says Michael Heck, president of ECPI’s Virginia Beach campus.

“More people have access to healthcare so there’s a boom in the health sciences as a whole, from surgical techs to healthcare administrators.”

Not only are more allied health workers needed, but the range of jobs is expanding as well.

“The allied health jobs have primarily come from nursing,” explains Shelly Cohen, dean of Sentara College of Health Sciences. “Over the years as patients got sicker and more technology became available, the nurse’s role broadened, and they couldn’t do it all.”

So today, it’s often a monitor surveillance tech keeping an eye on cardiac rhythm readouts, freeing nurses to spend more time with patients. “When an aberrant rhythm comes up, they contact the nurse – they’re the eyes and ears for that nurse,” says Cohen. “And surgical techs are doing things that an OR nurse used to do, prepping the operating room and assisting while the nurses primarily circulate. It’s been an evolutionary process.”

On the administrative side, allied health offers plenty of opportunities. “Sometimes a student wants to work in healthcare but they can’t handle the sight of blood or needles,” says

Heck, “so they might be interested in working in a doctor’s office doing billing and coding, or working in information management, especially as the industry transitions to electronic records.”

Other good options for those who tend to be a bit squeamish include radiology and ultrasound technicians, says Calogrides. “Or there are occupational therapy assistants, who are sort of unsung heroes. Maybe you’ve had a stroke or a broken bone or some other trauma. Occupational therapy assistants will step in and help get you functional and as independent as possible. That might mean they figure out how to modify the knife or fork you use, bend it in a different direction, give you a bigger handle so you can grip it better, or change the handle so you can slice your own bread. Or they may come up with solutions to help you get around the house or change your clothes.”

While many allied health jobs, like physical therapist assistants, have been around for a while, rapid advances in technology are creating new fields all the time.

“Our cardiac electrophysiology technologist program is only about two or three years old,” says Cohen. “This is a highly skilled position working with heart rhythm disorders and pacer insertions.”

These jobs are interesting, well paying, secure – and they’re also portable. “The majority have some sort of national certification or registration process,” says Calogrides. “Once you have that credential, you can go anywhere.

“Let’s say you’re a military spouse and you know you’re only going to be here a few years before you move on. If you’re a physical therapist assistant, you can pick up and move to North Carolina, or Louisiana or California and continue your career.”

Nathen Green, a registered vascular technologist who went through Sentara’s cardiovascular technology program several years ago, is now running the imaging lab for a vascular surgery practice in Arizona.

“The Sentara program was excellent and allied health is a great career field to go into,” he says. “You make good money and there’s a lot of flexibility as far as the hours you work or the setting you choose – a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a doctor’s office – so you can wear the same hat in a lot of different environments.

“Be aware of the fact that there are a lot of allied health jobs out there in subspecialties like this one that are in special demand. Right now we’re looking to hire a vascular technologist and we’re having to put out a job search across the country to find the person we need.”

Green choose his field because it offered the right balance of autonomy, intellectual challenge and patient contact. “You have to be selfmotivated because there’s no one telling you what to do every step of the way,” he says. “And you also have to be a critical thinker because there is a diagnostic portion to this job. Every time you look inside a body, it’s not like a textbook, everyone is a little bit different, there’s variation, and what you’re searching for is something to explain the patient’s symptoms. You’re trying to solve a mystery.”

Then there’s the sheer satisfaction of knowing you’re making an important difference in people’s lives. “That’s the most rewarding part,” says Green.

“I get to interact with people one-on-one every day. It may sound clichéd, but this is field where you really can contribute something meaningful.”

So if you’re looking for a cure for a lackluster job, a career in allied health may be just what the doctor ordered.

Allied Health Spotlight Cardiovascular Techs: $60,350/yr. Growth rate: 39% Medical Laboratory Techs: $47,820/yr. Growth rate: 22% Health Information: $34,160/yr. Growth rate: 22% Occupational Therapy Assistants: $53,240/yr. Growth rate: 41% Radiologic Techs: $55,910/yr. Growth rate: 21% Respiratory Therapists: $55,870/yr. Growth rate: 19% Surgical Techs: $41,790/yr. Growth rate: 30% Massage Therapists: $35,970/yr. Growth rate: 23% Dental Assistants: $34,500/yr. Growth rate: 25% (Median Annual Pay & Growth Rates Through 2022 - bls.gov)

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registered nurses: For years registered nurses (RNs) were the quintessential face of healthcare, faithfully carrying out physician orders. Today? They’re still the lynchpin of any medical practice, but their role has expanded considerably. RNs not only juggle leadership and educator roles, but they also manage patient care, contribute critical research insights and wield state-ofthe-art technology, all the while maintaining that very personal link with the patient.

It’s little wonder that the healthcare industry can’t add enough nurses to satisfy demand. RNs already make up the largest healthcare occupation, at 2.7 million, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the need for an additional half million nurses through 2022.

While an associate’s degree was a common entry credential not too long ago, a bachelor’s degree has become the preferred standard. “There’s a huge amount of technology they have to know in addition to more advanced patient care skills,” says Shelly Cohen, dean of Sentara College of Health Sciences. “Nursing is now

Current employment: 2,711,500 Projected job growth by 2022: 526,800 new jobs Growth rate: 19% (faster than average) Annual median wages: $65,470. The highest 10% earned more than $94,720.

Bureau of Labor Statistics – www.bls.gov

high touch, high tech. For instance, when I got out of nursing school years ago I worked in the ICU at De Paul Medical Center and we didn’t have the kind of monitoring equipment we have now. If you came back from head surgery, it was just our own assessment skills.

Now you have these highly specialized critical care environments, you’ve got trauma centers, you have heart hospitals.”

RNs can pick and choose from an array of work environments, from traditional settings like hospitals, clinics and physician offices to home care settings, military facilities, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, insurance companies, schools, even businesses.

There’s an equally wide range of specialties to choose from, allowing RNs to easily find an area that fits their interests and personality.

“An ER nurse is someone who likes a fast pace in the middle of the action, and there are also nurses who enjoy working in a long-term care setting where it’s calmer, more like being in someone’s home,” describes Arlene Sadoff, recruitment team coordinator for Sentara Healthcare. Then there are the multi-tasking maestros who work on medical/surgical floors, the operating room nurses who thrive on precision, and the nurse educators who are passionate about wellness and prevention.

Along with excellent pay, RNs are also able to take advantage of flexible scheduling – most nurses work three 12-hour shifts a week with four days off. But the biggest draw, says Cohen, is the opportunity to help others. “Our nursing students are here because they want to make a difference, they want to contribute, and if that’s important to you, you’ll find it in healthcare.”

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paramedics & emergency medical technicians: Marshall Smith really liked his former job combating credit card fraud for a local bank – it’s just that his current job offers some perks that are pretty difficult to compete with. “I still remember the first baby I delivered,” says Smith, a lieutenant with the Chesapeake Fire Department. “It was awesome.”

As a paramedic and firefighter, Smith has restarted hearts, stabilized accident victims and splinted broken bones. It’s all in a day’s work when saving lives is part of your job description, and the lieutenant is actively recruiting quick thinkers who like a bit of unpredictability thrown into their days.

“The Chesapeake Fire Department is doing something new in the region,” says Smith.

“Emergency medicine is roughly about 80 percent of what we do in the fire service. But where most firefighters are firefighters first and the EMT roles are secondary, we’ve created a position that’s a paramedic firefighter,” he says, with emphasis on the paramedic part of the job. “This is a career for people who have a passion for patient care.”

Smith is looking for applicants who already have paramedic certification. “You come in with that and then we provide the additional firefighting training, though patient care is the primary responsibility in this job,” he explains.

In Virginia, there are four levels of certification that an EMT can pursue all the way through paramedic, which is generally an associate’s degree program.

“The EMT basic course is usually about a semester

long,” says Jason Ambrose, EMS (emergency medical services) program coordinator at Tidewater Community College, “though we also have an accelerated 3½ week program. The paramedic program ends up being about two years.

“The EMT basic role is more or less assessment – they are taught to recognize life threatening emergencies and provide basic treatments,” says Ambrose. “By the time you get up to paramedic, you can do things like start IVs and give a pretty extensive list of medications.”

Ambrose, who worked as a Norfolk paramedic and firefighter before joining TCC’s EMS department, started his career as a volunteer with Virginia Beach’s EMS rescue squad. “Doing a ‘ride along’ with one of the Beach rescue squads (www.vbvrs.org) or with another local agency is the first thing I recommend to anyone who thinks they may be interested in EMS as a career,” he says. “People think of the Hollywood version of guts, glory and glamor, but that’s really a small percentage of what we do. If you ride along for a shift and decide it’s what you want, then by all means jump in and go for it.”

What does it take to be successful? “You have to handle stress well,” Ambrose says, “but you also need to care about people and have a genuine desire to provide a service to your community.

You’re the one people will be looking to for help.

And you’re going to be doing something not many other people can do.”

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e n i t u o R r u o Y e g n Cha EMTs and paramedics work for hospitals, medical transport companies, municipal rescue squads and fire departments, retirement communities, and government contractors. “There’s also an untapped market at the moment in private industry,� says Ambrose.

As in most healthcare jobs, EMTs work with some very sophisticated equipment. “Technology is a large part of what we do and it has a huge impact on patient outcomes,� says Smith. “For instance, for a long time, CPR was done manually, where you’d have someone pumping on a patient’s chest. Now we have Lucas devices that do mechanical CPR and the results are dramatically better. We were the first in the region to have them and we try to stay at the forefront of evolving technology.�

Those who enter the EMS field can expect very rewarding careers, Smith says. “The job as a whole is very gratifying. It’s all people based – everything we do is to help others. And it’s never routine. One minute you’re sitting at the station doing some training exercises and the next thing you know you’re in the middle of the river fishing someone from the water.�

Ambrose agrees: “The life saves, being in the right place at the right time, that’s all great.

But the small things you do – comforting someone who is lonely or frightened, or catching something that no one else would have caught – those moments really stand out too.�

EMT jobs are expected to grow much faster than average through 2022. “It’s also a very secure job,� Smith adds. “There are a lot of jobs out there where you can face layoffs if the economy does poorly. But people in public safety jobs are usually not as affected by changes in the economy.� In fact, says Smith, “if you are a paramedic, you can pretty much write your own ticket. Paramedics are that much in demand.�

Smith invites you to email him with questions about paramedic careers with the Chesapeake Fire Department at recruitingleaders@cityofchesapeake.net. “And once you have your paramedic certification, you need to call me – we’re hiring,� he says.

Learn More:

Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services (www.vabeachems.com) offers EMT training to volunteers in exchange for a commitment to do volunteer rescue work for the city for two $GYDQFHG /LIH 6XSSRUW 7HFKQLFLDQ )LUHILJKWHUV years. “We usually do about four or five EMT classes in-house a year,� says Christi Budy, a 5HTXLUHG &HUWLILFDWLRQV paramedic and captain with Virginia Beach EMS. Advanced Life Support Technicians/Firefighters Their next orientation session is Wednesday, This is a full time sworn public safety officer $GYDQFHG /LIH 6X February 25th, at 10am, with additional dates $GYDQFHG /LI position for those who have a passion for scheduled for March. Orientation is held at the providing pre-hospital emergency medical care for sick and injured.

Virginia Beach Department of EMS, located $GYDQFHG /LIH 6XSSRUW 7HFKQLFLDQ )LUHILJKWHUV Required Certifications: 5HTXLUHG &HUWLILFDWLRQV )LUHILJKWHU (PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO 7HFKQLFLDQV at 477 Viking Drive, Suite 130, in Virginia Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate, 5HTXLUHG &HUWLILFDWLRQV or Paramedic Beach. Call 757-385-1999 to register or to ask Competitive Salary $47,526.00 (upon about dates and times of future sessions; you’ll 5HTXLUHG &HUWLILFDWLRQV being released to practice) find more information at www.vbvrs.org.

Career Advancement Opportunities, Educational Opportunities Tidewater Community College’s EMS Life and Dental Insurance. 457 Deferred department hosts open door sessions every Compensation Plan, Flexible Spending Account, Retirement for 25 years of service.

Monday through Thursday from 9am to 3pm )LUHILJKWHU (PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO 7HFKQLFLDQV at the Regional Health Professions Center on Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technicians the Virginia Beach campus at 1700 College 3DUW 7LPH )LUHILJKWHU (PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO 7HFKQLFLD Our Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician’s are (PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO Crescent Drive. Call (757) 822-7335 for more trained and prepared to stand to&RPSOHWH protect the citizens )LUHILJKWHU (PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO 7HFKQLFLDQV WKH RQ OLQH DSSOLFDWLRQ 7HFKQLFLDQV and visitors of the city of ChesapeakeDYDLODEOH regardless RQ RXU ZHE VLWH information or email apine@tcc.edu.

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The Chesapeake Fire Department is Hiring

of the hazards they may face. If ZZZ -REV#FLW\RIFKHVDSHDNH QHW you are dedicated toward the preservation of life and the protection of )RU DGGLWLRQDO LQIRUPDWLRQ property we offer:

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Competitive Salary - $40,749.00 (Upon successful 5HFUXLWLQJOHDGHUV#FLW\RIFKHVDSHDNH QHW completion of fire recruit academy) Career Advancement Opportunities, Educational Opportunities, Life and Dental Insurance.

457 Deferred Compensation Plan, Flexible Spending Account, Retirement for 25 years of service.

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Current employment: 239,100 Projected job growth by 2022: 55,300 new jobs Growth rate: 23% (much faster than average) Median wages: $14.91 /hr.; $31,020/yr.

Top 10% earn $53,550+.

Bureau of Labor Statistics – www.bls.gov

(PHUJHQF\ 0HGLFDO 7HFKQLFLDQV Part-Time Emergency 3DUW 7LPH Medical Technicians

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Complete the on-line application available on our web site: www.jobs.cityofchesapeake.net For additional information Call 757-382-6297 or email us at Recruitingleaders@cityofchesapeake.net The City of Chesapeake Fire Department is an equal opportunity employer

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licensed practical nurses: Demetra Williams, an LPN at Westminster Canterbury, a senior living community in Virginia Beach, has wanted to be a nurse since she was in the 8th grade. “It seemed like a good way to help people,” she explains. “I thought it would be a fulfilling career.”

Now, after seven years as an LPN, she says she’s found the job to be everything she expected and more.

“It’s a great career if you like to learn,” she says.

“The technology we use is advancing so much. It is hard work, it can be challenging, but the smiles and thank-yous from residents and their families just make you so happy to be able to give.”

LPNs are responsible for bedside nursing, giving medications and handling routine laboratory tests.

You’ll find them preforming crucial roles in hospitals, home health services, busy physician offices, skilled nursing centers and assisted living facilities.

To enter the field, most LPNs complete diploma programs at vocational or career training schools in as little as a year, then sit for the national licensing exam.

Current employment: 738,400 Projected job growth by 2022: 182,900 new jobs Growth rate: 25% (faster than average) Median wages: $41,540. Top 10% earn more than $57,360.

Cheryl Guison, who works with Williams at Westminster Canterbury, took advantage of an LPN vocational training program offered at her Virginia Beach high school. Guison says opting for an LPN program allowed her to start her nursing career in a shorter amount of time than earning the associate’s or bachelor’s degree required to become an RN (registered nurse). “And an LPN’s job is just as fulfilling,” she says.

“I wanted a career where I could help people and make them feel better and it’s been everything I thought it would be. It’s so rewarding to hear someone say, ‘You took such good care of me; I always felt good when you were there.’ It’s a wonderful profession to be in. We’re valued and respected by the physicians we work with, by the RNs, by the nurse practitioners, and it’s a great feeling to be so appreciated by the residents we care for.”

Dara Wilson, an LPN/unit manager at Harbourway Assisted Living Facility at Atlantic Shores Retirement Community, never forgets how important she is to residents. She began her career as a dietary aide, she says, “but one of our residents with no living family members shared with me that one of his Atlantic Shores nurses not only made him happy, but made his life worth living. His story resonates with me to this day, and played a big part in my decision to pursue a career in nursing.”

Bureau of Labor Statistics – www.bls.gov

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physical therapists and physical therapist assistants: Physical therapists earn high pay, claim high job satisfaction rates and enjoy high demand for their skills – it is, very simply, a highly desirable job.

Physical therapists work one-on-one with patients to help them reach measurable goals that restore quality of life, building relationships as they go. It’s one of the fastest growing areas of healthcare today, and with boomers aging at a steady pace and ongoing advances in the field, the need for therapists is only going to increase.

In fact, physical therapist jobs are projected to increase by 36% through 2022, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while physical therapy assistant positions

pt Current employment: 204,200 Projected job growth by 2022: 73,500 new jobs Growth rate: 36% (much faster than average) Annual median wages: $79,860. The highest 10% earned more than $112,020.

pta Current employment: 121,400 Projected job growth by 2022: 49,400 new jobs Growth rate: 41% (much faster than average) Annual median wages: $52,160, though the top 10% earn more than $72,720.

Bureau of Labor Statistics – www.bls.gov

should see a healthy increase of 41%.

Physical therapists first earn a bachelor’s degree, typically in a field like exercise science or kinesiology, then enter a three-year doctoral-level program. For those who are attracted to the field but can’t devote seven years toward earning a doctorate, there are two-year associate degree programs for physical therapist assistants.

“When you’re talking about getting a doctoral degree, you’re making quite the time and financial commitment,” notes Thomas Calogrides, dean of health professions at Tidewater Community College’s Virginia Beach campus. “The physical therapist assistant program puts you in the field much faster. And in many cases, it puts you more hands-on with the patient.”

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants work in a variety of settings including hospitals, home health, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics and physician offices. Some therapists choose specialty fields such as pediatrics, sports medicine, orthopedics or gerontology, and this is a field that accommodates full-time as well as part-time schedules that help balance family and career needs.

Kay Kozlowski, the rehab director at Atlantic Shores, an active adult retirement community in Virginia Beach, decided to become a physical therapist after a high school sports injury. “I went to physical therapy and I just thought it was awesome – they made me better,” she explains.

Kozlowski enjoys the flexibility of the nursing home setting and getting her patients back on their feet. “After having therapy with us for six or eight weeks, they’re walking up a flight of stairs again, they have their lives back. It’s really a great job – I love my work.”

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Getting Started in Allied Health Allied health jobs are among the fastest growing segments in healthcare today, and local colleges and universities have responded with a wealth of training options in areas as diverse as radiology techs and physical therapist assistants to phlebotomists and paramedics.

“If you look at what’s happening in healthcare, there’s such a need for more people in these specialty areas,” says Michael Heck, president of ECPI’s Virginia Beach campus (www.ecpi.edu). Heck makes a point of examining regional employment patterns before opening a health sciences program to students.

“Almost 80 percent of my campus population is nontraditional students – they’re not straight out of high school. They want to know what are the immediate job opportunities upon completion of their education.

“One thing we do is provide accelerated education – we don’t take breaks during the summer – so an associate’s degree is anywhere from 13 to 16 months,” he says. Current associate’s degree programs at the Virginia Beach campus include dental assisting and medical assisting, and the school also offers a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration that can be earned in two and a half years. “Then we have 10-week certification courses in phlebotomy and EKG technician,” says Heck.

Tidewater Community College (www.tcc.edu) also offers an array of allied health programs that include shorter term courses like the one-semester EMT basic all the way up to an associate’s degree program for paramedics.

“It’s a pretty wide range,” says Thomas Calogrides, dean of health professions at TCC’s Virginia Beach campus. “One of our quickest programs would be phlebotomy. It’s one semester and was recently recognized for excellence. Then if you want to go a bit deeper, there’s the medical laboratory tech program, which is an associate’s degree.”

Other associate degree offerings include diagnostic medical sonography, health information management, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapist assistant, radiography and respiratory therapist.

Sentara College of Health Sciences (www.sentara. edu) has a number of allied health programs that are not commonly offered in the Hampton Roads area, including a new 16-week course added in 2012 that trains central sterile supply technicians. “They are responsible for sterilizing and packing surgical instruments,” says Shelly Cohen, dean of the college.

“It’s become a national program because this area is so highly specialized now.” Graduates who pass the national exam are Certified Registered Central Service Technicians (CRCST).

Sentara’s 14-week monitor surveillance tech program trains technicians to interpret basic EKG rhythms of cardiac patients and report results to physicians or nurses. “This program has two parts and you have to pass the first in order to go on to the second,” says Cohen. “At the end of the program, they take the Certified Rhythm Analysis Technician (CRAT) exam.”

Because these credentials are recognized nationally, graduates of both programs can continue their careers in other states if they want to relocate.

“We also have an associate’s degree program in surgical technology,” says Cohen. Surgery techs are an integral part of a surgical team – they scrub up, help prep the OR and assist with surgeries. “Our other associate’s degree program is cardiovascular technology and it has four tracks,” says Cohen: echocardiography, peripheral vascular, invasive cardiovascular and cardiac electrophysiology. All four tracks boast a 100% pass rate on national certification exams.

The echocardiography technologist and peripheral vascular technologist use ultrasound imaging to examine either the patient’s heart or the arteries and veins that make up the vascular system. The highly skilled invasive cardiovascular technologists and electrophysiology technologists work with cardiologists on procedures like angioplasties and pacemaker insertions.

For those interested in more traditional patient care, certified nurse assistants (CNAs) are valued in a number of healthcare settings, notes Christine Smith, the education director at Tidewater Medical Training. “Our CNA program here runs six to seven weeks, and our students can go out and get a job immediately. People don’t realize all that CNAs do, but they provide 85 to 90 percent of the care that is actually given to a patient or assisted living resident,” she says.

CNAs and personal care assistants are eligible to take a medication aide course, which, in Virginia, allows them to administer medications under a nurse’s supervision in assisted living facilities and adult group homes. At Tidewater Medical Training, the 68-hour program takes 2 ½

weeks to complete and is a welcome enhancement to any resume.

The diversity in allied health can make choosing one area to study a difficult feat. “But whichever avenue you decide to pursue, my advice is to make sure it’s something that really interests you,” says Heck. “If you’re passionate about your field, you’re going to be successful. We have admission advisors who are specialists in each of our programs to help you find the right match.”

Allied health programs can be competitive to get into and many have prerequisites, so it helps to plan early, says Calogrides. “I encourage people to come to an open house, look at the program criteria and talk to the instructors.” TCC hosts an open house on the 3rd Thursday of every month at the Virginia Beach campus, 1700 College Crescent Drive. The next open house is scheduled for February 26th; sessions for individual programs begin at 1pm.

Sentara College of Health Sciences holds allied health information sessions several times a week, including upcoming meetings February 14th at 10:30am, February 16th at 5:30pm and February 19th at 11:30am. The campus is located at 1441 Crossways Blvd, Suite 105, in Chesapeake.