The Best Return on the Educational Dollar: Choosing to Become a CVT

Why and how did you become an educator? My background is, I think, unique for my current profession. I attended the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering. I then enrolled in and graduated from MSOE’s post-baccalaureate cardiovascular perfusion program. I worked as a Perfusionist for eight years before coming to the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in 1996 to develop the CVT program. I actually began teaching at the age of 14 when I was hired as a music teacher for the Challenger Band of Milwaukee. I became a formal educator by answering an ad in the newspaper for someone to develop the CVT program. I suppose that I was a rare Perfusionist, in that I always was physically present in the cath lab for all surgical stand-bys. This enabled me to observe and lend a hand when necessary. It was through this process that I learned the skills required for a CVT. I currently teach approximately half of the classes at MATC, along with coordinating all didactic and lab courses, as well as clinical rotations. How long has your program been in operation? In 1990, the college was approached by a number of the local hospitals requesting that MATC start a CVT program. After some investigation, MATC decided to offer a series of workshops to give students a basic understanding of the cath lab. However, there was no room to house a new program, so after the first class completed the workshops, the CVT program was indefinitely postponed. In May 1996, the new Health Science Technology Center was completed. The Health Occupations division now had substantially more room, and the CVT program was revisited. I was hired in 1996 to begin development of the new Associate Degree program. After completing all of the state requirements, the program began in the Fall 1998 semester. Describe your program syllabus, both clinical and classroom. Our invasive program begins with one semester of general education classes (English, psychology, economics, statistics, etc.), followed by two semesters of intense cath lab/cardiovascular courses. The students then enter their final clinical phase of instruction in the fourth semester. The core didactic courses consist of an intro course, EKG analysis, cardiac anatomy, physiology and pathology, an echocardiography course, pharmacology, physical principles of medicine (biomedical electronics) and two semesters of cath lab techniques and procedures. Combined didactic and lab courses consist of two cath lab courses, one echo course, an EKG course and one non-invasive CVT course (stress testing, holter monitoring, etc.). The clinical portion of the program begins during the summer semester (48 hours) as an observation/hands-on rotation. During the third semester (128 hours) the student begins to take a greater role in the day-to-day duties of the tech. The fourth semester consists of 512 hours of clinical time (32 hours per week for 16 weeks) and it is here where the student receives most of their clinical experience. The student becomes more responsible for daily tasks and works independently well before graduation. (The entire curriculum is outlined in Figure 1.) We also have just recently started an echocardiography sub-specialty, and offer a separate AAS degree for echo as well. Both sub-specialties offer a 4-day school week and an extended 3-year plan for those students who have family or work responsibilities. How many students do you accept each year and have you seen an increase in applicants over the years? We accept 12 cath lab students and 8 echo students each year. I am very fortunate to have seen a dramatic increase in interest in the program over the last two years. I now have a three-year wait to enter the invasive CVT program. We also have a ‘fast-track’ for those students wishing to learn both sub-specialties. We reserve one spot each year for a continuing student to move from graduation in one sub-specialty immediately into the other without having to be placed on the wait list. What backgrounds do students generally have? My students come from varied backgrounds. Some are recent high school graduates, while others are nearing retirement age and simply want a change of employment. Some may have extensive medical backgrounds or other degrees, while others have none. What is your program’s annual tuition? The entire two-year program, including books and tuition, costs approximately $5,400 for in-state residents. What textbooks, CDs, or websites are used in your classes? Any innovative teaching tools? Our complete textbook list can be seen in Figure 2. Regarding innovative teaching tools, we have ‘Ivan’. Ivan is a ‘Spar Torso’ purchased from Medical Plastics Laboratory (Gatesville, Texas). In order to incorporate arterial vasculature, I cut out the chest and hollowed out the middle mediastinum. It has worked well for laboratory instruction. What types of clinical experiences do you offer students? My students rotate through four different clinical sites during their two years at MATC. They are placed directly into the tech position and begin to assume all of the duties of a cath lab tech. The student is required to monitor, pan, and scrub during every clinical rotation. I feel it is critical that the students are able to experience four different sites. Every hospital does things just a little bit differently and it is important for the students to realize that there are many correct ways of doing each task. I currently have clinical sites in each of the 12 major metro-Milwaukee area hospitals, as well as in Madison (WI), Wausau (WI) and Rockford (IL). How hands on does the student become and when does he or she gain exposure to actual procedures? This is, after all, a technical college, and we pride ourselves at being hands-on. It is what separates us from the four-year schools. The CVT students begin their hands-on education on the first day of the second semester with 3 lecture/lab courses and two more in the third semester. This education is then expanded upon through the almost 700 clinical hours that they receive during the summer, fall and spring semesters. Are your students cross-trained? ABSOLUTELY! Our invasive students are able to pan, monitor and scrub for all cases by graduation. Also, all CVT students, invasive and echo, take courses in each other’s specialty as specified in the Essentials and Guidelines for accreditation. Who does your classroom and clinical teaching? Our classroom teachers have extensive experience in the cardiac field. I teach the cardiac anatomy, physiology and pathology course, along with the intro course, the medical electronics course and coordinating all of the clinical courses. Two other instructors, both RCIS-registered, teach the pharmacology course and the cath lab techniques and procedures course. An RDCS-registered instructor teaches the echo course, while an exercise physiologist teaches the stress testing class. A respiratory therapist with extensive background in EKGs teaches our EKG Analysis course. As for our clinicals, each student is assigned to a current tech who acts as preceptor. This allows them to have one-on-one instruction during their clinical phase of instruction. I make periodic visits to each site, personally observe the students, and discuss their progress with their preceptor. What is the employment outlook for your graduates? GREAT! I currently have 100% job placement in each of the first four years of the program. We also have two new hospitals starting within the next four months, MedCath’s The Heart Hospital of Milwaukee and Covenant Healthcare’s Wisconsin Heart Hospital. The Heart Hospital of Milwaukee is due to open in October. I see a very bright future for our grads. What are typical starting salaries for graduates? It varies between hospitals. My grads have started from between $15.00-$18.00 per hour. This does not include call and overtime, which is estimated to increase annual income by as much as 30%. Most, if not all hospitals currently pay $2.00“$3.00 per hour call pay, a bonus when you are called in, and a guaranteed two hours at time and one-half per hour. What career opportunities have past graduates experienced? My grads have all started as a ‘Tech 1’ immediately upon graduating. Most are currently ‘Tech 2’ after having passed their RCIS examinations. One 2000 graduate, Jenny Krueger, has since earned her Bachelor’s degree, passed the RCIS exam, and is currently the manager of her cath lab. She has also come back to MATC to teach in the program on a part-time basis. Is there currently a demand for graduates of accredited CVT programs, and will there be demand in the future? Yes. In addition to the comments I made earlier, many of the local hospitals have now changed their qualifications to include ‘two years experience or a graduate from an accredited program’. This indicates that on the job training (OJT) certainly is no longer acceptable. How successful have graduates been at passing the RCIS exam? I have had 18 grads take the exam and 15 have passed. Keep in mind that we graduated small classes until the program ‘took off’. How has the CVT program evolved over the past 5 years? Quite a bit! In fact we are still evolving. When I first started here, my associate dean told me that it would take five years to get to a point where I will be comfortable. This is my fifth year and we have made minor changes every year since the program’s inception. The most recent changes have been the addition of the echocardiography subspecialty and a clinical rotation through the electrophysiology department. The next change is the addition of online courses. A complete curriculum grid is included (see Figure 1). What advice can you give to students considering the CVT school? You will never be disappointed with CVT as a career choice. If you want a job, look elsewhere, but if you want a career and a profession, then CVT is the place to come. The job outlook is terrific, the money is great and the satisfaction that you will experience is second to none. The program itself is challenging, but no more difficult than any other health occupation profession. What do you consider unique about your program? We are unique in that I am the only full-time instructor in the invasive program. The balance of my faculty are all currently employed techs and teach for me on a part time basis. I believe that this sets us apart from other programs, because any new technology that is introduced to the cath lab is brought directly to the classroom later that day. That way my students are kept up-to-date and never feel left behind. Also, we do not have an on-campus cath lab for our students. We have an agreement with one of the local hospitals to use their cath lab as our teaching lab. This also means that we have continuous, state-of-the-art technology for our students. Can you share a particularly proud teaching moment? One proud moment actually was an evolution in my relationship with a student. I had a particular student that always seemed to find fault with the program. She never thought that she had learned anything in the courses, and was not shy in expressing her dissatisfaction. Shortly before graduation she approached me and I thought, Now what? She told me that she had never felt that she had learned anything, either in quality or quantity, but now, looking back, she understood how everything really did seem to fit together, and that she (unknowingly?) actually did learn quite a bit. Most stunning…she thanked me! Actually, what I am most proud of are my students. I like the fact that there really isn’t a teacher-student relationship; we become good, close friends. Don’t misunderstand me. There is still a very definite professional line, but my students know that they can come to me at any time to discuss academic as well as other concerns that they may be experiencing. Many of my grads will call, just to talk and to let me know how they are doing. I consider them my ‘kids’ and many times will call them just that. A question for students: Why did you choose to become a CVT? I was looking for a career that would be challenging yet rewarding at the same time. I chose to enter the CVT program because after researching the field, I felt the technology would keep pace with the demand, and I would always be learning new things. This was the main attraction for me. Pat Heicher, 2nd year student I decided to start a second career after the industrial base in our area eroded. I always wanted to be involved in medicine, but my career choices as a youth took me in the manufacturing direction. I've had some experience as a patient with PCTA, and after discussing the CVT program availability at MATC with the program director Erwin Wuehr, I applied for acceptance in that program. In the first semester, I have determined that this was a great choice, and only regret not doing it earlier in my working career. My limited exposure at this juncture has been very exciting. I find myself recommending to some of the younger people in my family that they should consider this vocation for their life. Bob Huettner, 1st year student I chose the echocardiography program at MATC because I wanted to be involved in cardiac-related healthcare. Echocardiography is interesting, non-invasive, and the job outlook is great. Echocardiography also gives me the opportunity to work with both inpatients and outpatients. This is an attractive feature, given that I currently, while in school, work with very acutely ill patients. Vicki Williams, 1st year student I chose the echocardiography program at MATC because of my interest in the human heart. I've always had an interest in cardiology because I have had heart problems of my own. After of high school there were no readily available echocardiography programs in the Milwaukee area, so I graduated from the Physical Therapist Assistant program at MATC and have been doing physical therapy for the past 5 years. I jumped at the opportunity to start this new echocardiography program for many reasons, including the fact that they take only 6 students a year and the job opportunities are great in this ever-progressing medical community. Julie Knoeck, 1st year student I experienced my first open heart surgery back in 1992 and I thought that it was very interesting. I also had a son that died when he was nine days old due to a congenital cardiac defect, and I wanted to learn more about it. I think that this field can open so many doors and there is a demand for CVTs nationwide. Pamela Riley, 1st year student I chose the CVT Echocardiography program because imaging is the beginning of a proper diagnosis and the resultant treatment. Our program teaches not only what we’re looking at (i.e., cardiac anatomy) but also the analysis of the image (EKG, echo, and pressure wave forms). We get enough knowledge to be able to put our minds into capturing the image, meaning we can see not only the normal, but also the abnormal and what additional images we need for the proper diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Non-invasive imaging is key to the future of cost-contained medicine. Our program gives the best return on our educational dollar. Greg Moen, 1st year student The reason I chose CVT was because I wanted a career where I would be helping people extend their lives for as long as possible. I went through 3 semesters of the Registered Nursing program when I decided it was not for me. I wanted to physically help make a difference in the life of the person, not just be the one to look out for them after the procedure was done. I wanted the fast-paced interventional part of the treatment, working as a team to help a person live a longer, healthier life. Michelle Salzman, 1st year student

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