Alliance addresses health needs

RIT and Rochester Regional Health are partnering to address widespread nursing shortages in the healthcare sector.

The alliance aims to enhance programming in the university’s College of Health Sciences and Technology and prepare healthcare professionals to enter the workforce.

The partners are exploring opportunities to develop nursing education programs, including an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) and a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

Plans for a joint Master’s Degree in Nursing (MSN) in health informatics are also under consideration, said Catherine Shannon, executive director of the RIT Rochester Regional Health Alliance.

Additional programs under development or discussion are clinical doctorates in occupational therapy and physical therapy.

“Anything associated with RIT is going to have an innovative technological twist,” Shannon said. “These programs will be infused with technology, such as informatics. The curriculum will equip students with unique learning experiences and knowledge they can use when they go to their clinical sites.”

The alliance is establishing a model for workforce innovation, according to Annette Macias-Hoag, RRH executive vice president and chief nursing and patient care officer. “We are creating a pipeline to address current and future community needs.”

Students will gain clinical experience through the health system’s vast care delivery network, comprised of nine hospitals, extended care, urgent care, physician offices, and outpatient specialty services.

“Since 2013, the partnership has provided our students with clinical experiences and hired many of our graduates,” said Yong “Tai” Wang, dean of RIT’s College of Health Sciences and Technology. “Many students in our diagnostic medical sonography, physician assistant, nutrition and dietetics, exercise science, and medical illustration programs have learned on site from RRH faculty.”

The alliance also provides opportunities for students across the university to engage in innovative projects, Shannon said. Students involved with RIT’s industrial and systems engineering, executive MBA, and multidisciplinary senior design projects work on solutions to challenges identified by Rochester Regional Health employees.