From life-saving organ transplants to clinical trials testing tomorrow’s therapies, New York’s Independent Sector medical schools are uncontested leaders in therapeutic technologies. Future researchers, physicians, and healthcare specialists hail from around the world to participate in the nation’s most active and progressive academic medical centers and have access to cutting-edge techniques and technologies first-hand.
Not only are these center’s students benefiting from such far-reaching activity, but the local public is as well. Some of the technologies that are being made accessible are in the clinical trial stage and not yet available elsewhere. New York medical schools receive multiple millions of dollars per year in research funding and boast an impressive track record of translating this research into discoveries with commercial potential. The University of Rochester Medical Center alone creates an average of four new companies per year based on its technologies. It is also the only center in Upstate New York approved for work both on heart devices and transplantation – and home to the largest orthopedic research program in the country.
Reaching Out
While such economically-promising research and life-saving techniques are beneficial, New York’s private colleges also reach directly into the poorest, neediest communities to provide relief and hope. Physician Assistants (PAs) in training at Le Moyne College, for example, work to find homeless men a source of regular healthcare other than emergency clinics. These PAs also provide health education classes for inmates at the Syracuse Justice Center and help forge healthy partnerships between young people and neighborhood senior citizens. Utica College brings together students from a diverse array of fields to run a health fair dedicated to Central New York’s immigrant population.
The College’s School of Health Professions and Education also offers an annual forensic anthropology field school where students travel to underserved areas of Albania to provide physical therapy outreach services to pediatric patients.
Through its numerous epidemiological studies (health studies across a population) conducted statewide, the Independent Sector contributes immeasurably to the health status of New Yorkers. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is undertaking a landmark study of the health needs of the Hispanic/ Latino population in the Bronx. The study will identify the prevalence and risk factors of a variety of diseases among this largest of minority populations in the U.S.
Another large-scale study at New York University’s School of Medicine has identified the source behind the alarmingly high rates of asthma among school children in the South Bronx: soot particles spewing from the exhaust of diesel trucks. The University is conducting research on other common health problems that plague poor neighborhoods, investigating methods to improve these disparities.
Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Medical College goes farther a field in its outreach, organizing an international forum on neglected diseases. The first-ever forum attracted some of the most important names in global healthcare to tackle diseases that affect at least a billion people throughout the Third World.
Emerging Careers
Giant strides in technology and science have changed the face of traditional medicine so dramatically that a wide variety of new careers have emerged. Cytotechnology (the microscopic study of cells for evidence of disease), cardiovascular perfusion, and radiologic technology are among the unique degree offerings at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The University also has seized on the pressing need for advanced skills in the processing and protection of health information. The campus boasts the only Health Information Management program in the State, covering topics such as the legal aspects of health care, computer applications, health insurance benefits, and medical terminology. Students who successfully complete the B.S. degree can also earn credentials as a Registered Health Information Administrator – a small, specialized group of professionals highly sought-after by major employers.
To be sure, employment of medical and health services managers is expected to grow at a fast clip – towering 26 percent above all occupations through 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Handbook. For graduates of Elmira College’s M.S. in Health Services Management, this means good job opportunities in the offices of hospitals, outpatient care centers, and home health care services. The College’s degree provides students with a strong grasp of the American healthcare system, including its complex legal, ethical, and financial issues.
Fulfilling the rising need for skilled healthcare workers, St. John’s University recently acquired Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers School of Allied Health Professions to offer a four-year Physician’s Assistant degree, a B.S. four-year Medical Technology degree, and a B.S. four-year Pathologist Assistant degree program by the University’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions.
Another skill in high demand lies in providing essential data, such as tests on patients’ samples, which help doctors form a diagnosis. Called “medical technologists,” these professionals examine everything from blood and tissue samples to biopsies of suspected cancerous growths. To help meet the rising demand for medical technologists, The College of Saint Rose has teamed up with Albany Medical College to award top students a substantial scholarship to cover a significant portion of tuition and guarantee employment as a medical technologist for three years following graduation.
One fast-emerging field of medicine hails from Asia. Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is solidifying its reputation as a safe, cost effective, and efficacious alternative to western medicine. At New York Chiropractic College’s (NYCC) School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, students undertake rigorous studies of the body’s acupoints and use holistic diagnostic procedures. The School keeps a Chinese medicinal herb garden on its Seneca Falls campus, allowing first-hand study.
Chiropractic work, itself, is among the fastest growing in healthcare. NYCC students also can study the complex motions of the vertebrae, diet, and rehabilitative therapeutic exercises. Typically, chiropractors manage patient care through collaborative partnerships with other primary care professionals. They treat and prevent disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system, diagnosing problems through case histories, physical examinations, and diagnostic imaging.
A Growing Trend: Nurse-Managed Care
Academic nursing centers have emerged in the past decade as safety nets for vulnerable, high-risk groups. They reduce hospital and ER use, offer personalized health counseling, and allow nursing students to gain valuable clinical experience. Perhaps most importantly, they empower patients to take control of their own health, providing strong preventive care services.
In the neighborhoods surrounding Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, for example, one quarter of the population lacks health insurance and access to a primary care physician. Here, a new nursing center established by the University responds to the needs of its community with a range of services, focusing on the common burdens that plague the underserved, such as asthma, heart disease, obesity, and HIV.
For communities near New York University (NYU), access to primary care just got easier for another underserved population: older adults. The newly opened NYU College of Nursing Faculty Practice at the College of Dentistry provides a wide range of preventive and acute healthcare services. It builds on another important trend in healthcare; more and more nurse practitioners (NPs) are serving as regular primary care providers, either independently or in collaboration with a physician. NYU draws on the skills of faculty NPs who are trained to offer complete primary care for those who do not have a primary care provider.
Mount Saint Mary College’s new 53,865 square foot Mathematics, Science & Technology Center recently opened for the fall 2007 semester. It offers three nursing laboratories, a patient simulation lab, a hospital practice lab and a computer/seminar lab.
The College of Mount Saint Vincent serves medically underserved communities by attracting and retaining nursing students of underrepresented backgrounds. Two sizeable grants allow the College to improve the supply of qualified nurses throughout New York State with training at the entry and master’s levels. Also boosting the supply of well-prepared nurses is Excelsior College’s School of Nursing is the only one in New York State to be designated by the National League for Nursing as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education. Beginning in the spring of 2008, students will be required to demonstrate competencies related to specific areas of practice using a simulation-based examination delivered via computer at Pearson Professional Centers around the country, adding to an already rigorous course of study.