Partnership provides new opportunity for DHS

An opportunity for Daleville High School students to earn a degree from Enterprise State Community College is available for the next school year.

A Medical Assistant Technology degree program is being offered for the first time for the new class of high school sophomore students, Daleville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Stamps told those attending the recent board of education meeting. DHS juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the program for their remaining school years but will not have completed the entire program by their graduation, she said.

Dual enrollment is a program that offers high school students the opportunity to take college courses while receiving both college and high school credit, according to ESCC Instructional Resources and Community Education Director Ann Kelley-Spence. “The best part of taking a college academic class is you are getting both college and high school credit.”

Medical Assistant Technology training allows students to complete administrative and clinical tasks in hospitals, clinics and physician offices. Medical assistant duties may include measuring a patient’s vital signs and helping physicians with patient examinations.

The classes include information on testing and treatment procedures, medical law and ethics, patient psychology, communications, and basic anatomy and physiology. Coursework in the MAT program will prepare the student to provide medical office administrative services and perform clinical duties, including patient intake and care, routine diagnostic and recording procedures, pre-examination and examination assistance and the administration of medications and first aid.

Colleges in the Alabama Community College System are authorized to establish dual enrollment/dual credit agreements with local boards of education in the colleges’ service area. Students successfully completing college classes as a dual enrollment student receive both high school and college credit.

Courses offered to dual enrollment students by postsecondary institutions are of collegiate quality and rigor.

ESCC has had more than 75 students in the college’s service area who have earned an associate’s degree by the time they receive their high school diploma via the dual enrollment program. For the Spring 2020 semester alone, ESCC had 465 students enrolled in dual enrollment classes.

Following the announcement by the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs in January that the fifth veterans home to be built in the state was to be built in Enterprise, ESCC met with local officials to discuss how the college could provide training and education to an evolving workforce.

“We have been preparing for months to serve the needs of our local workforce in anticipation of the new veterans home, wherever it would be located in the Wiregrass,” ESCC President Matt Rodgers said at that time. “We know we have great programs already in place to fill the jobs created by this facility but we’re also researching new programs because of the impact it will have in our service area.”

The ADVA made the announcement of a fifth home after conducting a needs assessment study which found that by the year 2045, 1,440 veterans would require a skilled-care bed. The study further identified the Wiregrass region as an underserved area for veterans.

The 175-bed facility with an estimated 300 employees is expected to be open in Enterprise by 2023, according to the ADVA.

The ESCC Dual Enrollment Office is available to answer any questions about dual enrollment opportunities for students. The office can be contacted at [email protected] or call (334) 464-2295 or (334) 389-0605.

“ESCC is committed to our students and high school partnerships,” Kelley-Spence said. “Dr. Stamps has been amazing to work with and it’s very exciting to have this partnership with Daleville City Schools.”