CHP open house event offers glimpse into medical professions

The demand for health care professionals in the United States is higher than ever before, due in large part to an aging population, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. At MUSC, the College of Health Professions (CHP), the largest and most diverse college in terms of types of programs offered, is working to help satisfy this increased demand.

The college held an open house Sept. 30 to celebrate its 50th anniversary and showcase various programs to inspire prospective students to pursue careers in areas of the medical field where demand is particularly high. The event was very well attended and well received.

“With the College of Health Professions being home to more than a dozen academic programs, the 50th anniversary open house provided students from all over the university with an interprofessional opportunity to learn about a variety of health care programs,” said Cindy Dodds, Ph.D., professor and coordinator of the open house.

The event gave the college an opportunity to highlight programs that are in particularly high demand, such as cardiovascular perfusion and physical therapy, which are advancing rapidly due to improvements in technology and scientific advancements. And, as the U.S. population continues to age, the need for these specialties grows even more.

Hannah Tecson, a first–year student in the Master of Science in Cardiovascular Perfusion program in CHP, is working toward her degree in a very important but often overlooked field of medicine.

Perfusionists are responsible for operating a heart–lung machine during open–heart surgeries. The machine essentially bypasses the heart and acts as an artificial blood pump during surgery, so the doctor is able to work on a still heart. Perfusionists must monitor a patient’s status closely in order to maintain his or her physiological state during the operation.

At the open house, Tecson demonstrated the use of a heart–lung machine in one of MUSC’s simulation labs.

“The market for perfusionists is really great right now,” said Tecson. “It’s a very young profession. It’s only been here for about 50 years or less, so everyone who was a perfusionist at the beginning is starting to retire now.” According to Tecson, the employment rate for perfusionists coming out of school is close to 100 percent, an encouraging statistic for those entering the field.

For Tecson, receiving the opportunity to practice in an up–to–date simulation lab that mimics a standard operating room is invaluable. “I think it’s great because you are practicing in that environment, so once you are physically put in the operating room you have a good feeling of where things are,” Tecson said. “The fact that we use an actual heart–lung machine that was once used for surgeries helps a lot, because we’re practicing on the machine that we will be using on patients someday.”

MUSC has the second largest perfusion program in the world — just slightly smaller than a perfusion program in Arizona — making it the ideal institution for students on the East Coast who are interested in perfusion.

Joe Sistino, Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Perfusion in CHP, is passionate about the success rates perfusionists experience during surgeries at MUSC.

Sistino explained the low success rates associated with early open-heart surgeries. “In the 1950s, the first 16 out of 17 patients died.” Now, the overall national success rate for open–heart surgery is about 98.7 percent, according to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Technological advancements made the heart–lung machine possible, and as a result, open–heart surgeries have become consistently more successful.

But a heart–lung machine is only as capable as the medical professional who operates it. Sistino hopes that CHP’s new Master of Science in Cardiovascular Perfusion programs, both entry–level and post–professional, will encourage more students to choose MUSC and shape valuable and competent perfusionists for the future of the profession.

CHP offers 14 undergraduate and graduate degrees, encompassing various disciplines, and educates and prepares  students to become integral members of health care or health administration teams.

Physical therapy is another growing area. Dave Morrisette, Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Physical Therapy in CHP, represented this ever–expanding field at the open house with his demonstration titled “Possibilities in PT.”

As students who assisted with his demonstration practiced various physical therapy techniques on each other, Morrisette explained the different areas physical therapy encompasses. “If you’re seeing a geriatric or pediatric patient, you’re seeing them for either a neurological, orthopedic or cardiopulmonary problem or wound healing — those are the four areas in which PT intervenes with someone.”

Many patients require a physical therapist for ailments commonly associated with aging, such as arthritis, hip pain, knee pain or osteoporosis. There are also neurological conditions that require long–term physical therapy, including multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and strokes.

Students in the CHP physical therapy program have the opportunity to practice on patients with long-term conditions, according to Morrisette. “We have a multiple sclerosis clinic, so Dr. Kraft brings in a number of patients who have MS, and they work with these patients,” said Morrisette. “They learn how to communicate and interact with people. It’s great for the students to learn the best way to educate people.”

Kathleen Schaeffer and Joy Carston, first–year students in the PT program, chose to study this area due to personal experiences with family members who required physical therapy. Currently, they are enrolled in neuroscience classes, but they find the hands–on aspect of the physical therapy program to be vital to their skill development. “It’s only our second semester, and we get to treat patients with one of our professors,” Carston said of CHP’s extensive physical therapy program.

Both faculty and guests had high praise for the success of the open house and 50th anniversary celebration, which provided students with a glimpse into several medical specialties. Inspiring and shaping a new generation of health professionals is essential to the growth of health care, said Dodds, and the College of Health Professions is achieving that goal one open house at a time.