As the workforce looks to fill jobs, one of the many ways they are doing so is with apprenticeships. Unlike internships which are short-term, sometimes only for college credit, and you don’t get a certificate, in apprenticeships you are almost an employee. You also get paid and the door to employment is a lot wider. The 9th National Apprenticeship Week is from November 13-19 and as a special write-up to go along with the week, we talked to Melana Howe, Resource Development/Corporate Liaison, about the apprenticeship programs that LRSC offers.
Howe said she “kept coming across articles on apprenticeships in community colleges which was a very new concept.” LRSC did something different than other programs. “For ours, we were the first college to align our apprenticeship in non-traditional occupations. Meaning they weren’t electrical, they weren’t plumbing, they weren’t construction. They aligned with the two-year degrees we offered at the college,” she said. The first one offered was in cybersecurity and LRSC partnered with NDSU Core Technology Services.
One of the most popular apprenticeships at LRSC is in the healthcare field. “It is by far one of our strongest occupations in our apprenticeship program,” she said. One of the newest programs that is being offered is in community paramedicine. “It is broadening their scope of practice. Parademics by history have always been pre-hospital,” she said. “In the area of community paramedicine, they will learn more chronic disease management skills. When they go to answer a call, they may not transport them, they may treat them on the spot.”
Going into this field also offers other benefits to the apprentice. “A paramedic loses their skills not because of burnout but because of rust out. They’re not using their skills.” Someone with the community paramedicine certificate, LRSC explains on their website “EMTS and Paramedics can assist public health and primary healthcare providers, and those that deliver preventative care to underserved populations in the community with the goal of improving access to care.”
In healthcare, some of the employers that work with LRSC are Altru, CHI – Health at Home, CHI -Devils Lake, Grafton – Lutheran Sunset Home of the Good Shepherd, and Grafton – Unity Medical Center Nelson County.
In IT, the employers include NDCTE, CTS, NDIT, Northrop Grumman-Grand Sky, and Northrop Grumman-New Town.
For more information on apprenticeship opportunities and courses and more general information, you can check out what LRSC has to offer on its website lrsc.edu.
