Health workers needed, STAT!(HEALTH & MEDICINE)

• Author: Sommer, Susan

Good news for anyone training now in the health industry: Jobs will be abundant! Alaska's aging population and projected population growth in general means a greater need for health services across the state. Also, many employed in Alaska's health workforce today are approaching retirement age and their positions will need to be filled. So who's training our future healthcare workforce?

Workforce Training

The University of Alaska system offers more than 90 health programs statewide in allied health, public health, nursing and nurse practitioner, nutrition and dietetics, behavioral health, health information and management, and medical billing and coding. Partnerships with other universities include additional programs, about half of which are provided online. UA awards more than 800 degrees in the health field annually.

The University is also part of the WWAMI partnership, a collaborative medical school among universities in five states--Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho--and the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Alaska's WWAMI students complete their first year of medical school at the University of Alaska Anchorage, then attend second-year courses at UW Medical School. The third and fourth years are spent doing rotations in various medical specialty areas. These can be taken in any of the WWAMI states. Students who choose the "Alaska Track" can do almost all of their rotations in Alaska, a boon to students who already live here or plan to make Alaska their home.

AVTEC-Alaska's Institute of Technology is part of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. It maintains an allied health campus in Anchorage and offers training to be come a certified nurse assistant (CNA), licensed practical nurse (LPN) or registered nurse (RN). AVTEC partners with Cook Inlet Tribal Council to help increase the presence of Alaska Natives in the nursing field.

Alaska Career College in Anchorage has programs for medical assistant, phlebotomy technician, insurance coding and billing, and massage therapy, and with classes on the fast track students can be done in about a year or less.

The Health Career Academy was created in 2009 as a partnership between the Anchorage School District and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development when the entities recognized the growing need for a trained health workforce. The academy partners with more than 30 other groups, including hospitals and other businesses...