Questar III will launch a new New Visions program in the fall. New Visions Medical will be available to seniors interested in pursuing careers in various medical fields.
The program will be based at Samaritan Hospital in Troy from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and will feature time in medical labs at Hudson Valley Community College, college coursework at Russell Sage College in Troy, and a variety of shadowing experiences both inside and outside the hospital.
Tammie Borland currently teaches Questar III’s New Visions STEM program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and will transition to the Medical program over the summer.
“I’m incredibly excited to launch this new program. The New Visions model and philosophy of education empowers students to take control of their own educational process, as they focus on their field of interest and gain invaluable experience through shadowing professionals,” Borland said.
Students will receive eight credits from Russell Sage in Human Biology and Physics for the Medical Sciences at a significantly discounted per-credit-hour rate. There will also likely be opportunity for collaboration with Questar III’s New Visions World Health and Scientific Research program, based at the University at Albany’s East Campus in Rensselaer.
“Sage is excited to partner with Questar III and the New Visions Medical program! Given Russell Sage’s long history and strong reputation in the health sciences, it’s a perfect fit,” said Dr. Deb Lawrence, Dean of Russell Sage College. “We are especially pleased to provide an opportunity for high school students to earn college credits for the courses they are taking in conjunction with this program. This coursework should mesh nicely with the practical experiences they will have in the clinical settings.”
“Hudson Valley Community College’s Health Science faculty members are excited to provide Questar III’s New Vision students with hands-on experiences in career fields such as Dental Hygiene, Emergency Medicine, Invasive Cardiovascular Technology, Polysomnography, Medical Imaging, Mortuary Science and Respiratory Care,” said Patricia Hyland, Department Chair of Hudson Valley Community College’s Cardiorespiratory, Polysomnography, and Emergency Medicine Programs.
Students will be required to have a PPD (tuberculosis test), hospital safety training, HIPAA training, and a flu shot (or a formal declaration of why they don’t want one).
Borland has met with over two dozen departments at Samaritan Hospital to build support for the program and make connections for students’ rotations, including the emergency room, operating room, progressive care and obstetrics.
“Education is at its best when the community unites to support our youth. The people at Samaritan, St. Mary’s, Russell Sage, Hudson Valley, and our school districts, are providing a phenomenal opportunity for the next generation to engage in authentic learning in the medical field,” Borland said.
Questar III District Superintendent Dr. Gladys I. Cruz said the new program emphasizes hands-on learning in a unique educational environment.
“How students learn is just as important as what they learn. This program continues our 15 years of excellence within our New Visions programs. This includes co-location at a school or business setting and strong partnerships with the professionals shaping their fields. We are pleased to be working with Hudson Valley Community College, Russell Sage and Samaritan Hospital,” Cruz said.
Judy Quinn is Samaritan Hospital’s Nursing Director of Emergency Services and serves as a liaison for the New Visions program and the hospital. She says she is thrilled to be a part of the program.
“We have a great hospital, we have great outcomes. I thought it was a great opportunity to showcase our hospital. We’re building a new emergency room, critical care units, and medical surgical units. We need people in healthcare, and what better way for students to be exposed to everything we do,” Quinn said.
Quinn has 33 years of service as a nurse in the Capital Region, and Nursing Director for 28 years. She attended an informational session last year held to gauge interest in the program, and she called Norman Dascher, CEO of Patient Care at Samaritan and asked if he would be interested in being a part of the program.
“He unequivocally said yes, absolutely, go for it,” Quinn said. “We were thrilled when [Tammie] came to a leadership meeting and people were just like ‘this is awesome we want students.’”
“We are proud to be a part of this program which will prove to be a great resource for future generations of health care professionals in the making,” said Norman E. Dascher, Jr., chief executive officer of Samaritan and St. Mary’s hospitals, and executive vice president of the Acute Care Troy Division of St. Peter’s Health Partners. “Our hospitals provide leading-edge care, and we have an important part in caring for the health and wellbeing of the community. So we look forward to the opportunity to educate young minds in various hospital settings, and helping enlighten students about the vast potential of careers in medicine.”
Borland said there has been a tremendous response to the program from students and parents – so much so extra chairs had to be brought in to the informational program at Rensselaer Educational Center in January.
Like other New Visions programs, the class will be limited to 15 students. Borland says this is a number that seems to work well for programs of this sort, especially when working with scheduling one-on-one rotations in hospital departments with hospital staff.
Final decisions for admissions to the program will be made by the end of the April break.
