| "The college diploma is the new high school degree." | | | | want demonstrable, real-world experience, too. A New |
| That's a well-known statement heard in the New York | | | | York healthcare program dedicated to the training of |
| City of 2007 - and there's a lot of truth to it. However, | | | | allied health professionals like nursing aids and dental |
| not everyone wants - or needs - to attend a four-year | | | | technicians typically offers professional externships in |
| university to begin a career. Many New Yorkers are | | | | the student's field of study. For example, an aspiring |
| turning to New York healthcare programs that feature | | | | dental technician might spend hours assisting chair-side |
| rapid training time, lower tuition costs, and a faster path | | | | in a genuine New York private dental practice - or, a |
| from school to the work force. The Mandl School, | | | | budding nursing assistant might clock in some hands-on |
| College of Allied Health in New York City is one such | | | | work hours at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. |
| school that offers new alternatives - such as a dental | | | | This type of experience is career-focused, and can be |
| technician track and assistant nursing program - to the | | | | put on a future job seeker's resume. |
| classic college degree. | | | | Many four-year colleges put an emphasis on a liberal |
| Healthcare programs: The New York career wave of | | | | arts education. What this means is that the academic |
| the future | | | | programs demand exposure to many areas of human |
| America is getting older - and there are not enough | | | | thought and achievement: science, mathematics, arts, |
| workers to help her age well, just yet. The upcoming | | | | languages, philosophy, and so on. So, a student might |
| wave of Boomer retirements means a significant | | | | leave a four-year Ivy League school knowing |
| number of job vacancies, and an American economy | | | | Nietzsche backwards and forwards, but he or she |
| that demands more skilled healthcare workers. And | | | | can't apply that skill to a specific career. New York |
| retirement isn't the whole story: As the New York | | | | healthcare programs that focus on allied health |
| Baby Boomers reach their geriatric years, they will | | | | careers - the catch-all term for jobs like nursing |
| need skilled nursing care. As they retain more of their | | | | assistant, dental technician, and medical biller and coder |
| natural teeth, they will need skilled dentists and dental | | | | - typically offer only courses that are relevant to the |
| technicians. New York school programs that focus on | | | | student's eventual career. This saves the student time, |
| allied health, such as the Mandl School, address that | | | | and money. And, the hands-on skills taught in allied |
| critical job and care gap by offering a quick path to a | | | | health care programs can't be had just by going to the |
| career. | | | | library, attending lecture, or studying texts. They must |
| Higher tuition, more problems: Healthcare programs | | | | be practiced in real life settings before the student |
| offer cost-effective alternatives to the traditional | | | | signs his or her first employment contract. |
| four-year system | | | | Outsourced and right-sized: How the new economy |
| Money is often a would-be student's biggest barrier to | | | | makes healthcare school programs necessary |
| attending a New York nursing school or M.D. program. | | | | The current American economy is service- and |
| As tuition soars and students increasingly turn to | | | | ideas-based, according to market periodicals such as |
| private loans to finance their educations, many find | | | | BusinessWeek. The Internet makes the exchange and |
| school to be beyond the reach of their financial means. | | | | purchase of new ideas easy, and rapid. Unfortunately |
| An allied healthcare program in New York, such as the | | | | for U.S. workers, it makes ideas cheap, too. Some |
| Mandl School, offers lower-cost training programs, with | | | | Americans remember the halcyon 1990s as a period |
| classes that are relevant to the specific functions the | | | | of great economic growth. However, many of the |
| student will perform on the job. After attending a | | | | ideas-based jobs such as computer programming and |
| career-focused allied health program, the newly | | | | software engineering have since been outsourced to |
| graduated student can enter the job market proficient | | | | developing countries that boast cheaper labor. |
| in the skills he or she will need to be a nursing assistant, | | | | Service jobs are here to stay, for now. You can't |
| medical assistant, or dental technician in New York. | | | | telecommute a restaurant meal or a tire rotation. |
| More importantly, the student can begin working | | | | However, most service-sector jobs require no |
| without onerous loans. | | | | education, and thus, offer only menial wages. Allied |
| The experience gap: Addressed by healthcare | | | | health careers, by contrast, offer significantly higher |
| program internships | | | | entry level wages, with only a short commitment to |
| New York City is a tough, competitive job market - | | | | training time. As the United States economy continues |
| witness the huge numbers of liberal arts grads working | | | | to evolve from the labor economy of its inception to |
| as baristas or waiters. Sources as varied as the U.S. | | | | the service economy of today, more and more |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, Penn State University, and | | | | students - from Dallas to Los Angeles to New York - |
| The Guardian report that in today's job market, | | | | choose allied healthcare school programs to secure |
| education - and nothing but - is old hat. Employers | | | | their working futures. |