Central Florida Institute: Invasive Cardiovascular Technology

How long has your program been in operation? The first class in Invasive Cardiovascular Technology (ICT) at Central Florida Institute (CFI) was launched in January 2004. It was powered by area hospital demands for properly trained technologists and by student interest. From its inception, the program took over a year and a half to organize and implement. Is your program accredited? If not, when is a survey scheduled? CFI is institutionally accredited through the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and is in the process of obtaining programmatic accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) for the cardiovascular programs. Final preparations for the CAAHEP site visit are currently under way. What challenges have you encountered? Developing the instruments needed to provide the students with the knowledge and physical skills necessary for program completion, graduation, credentialing and professional careers, while incorporating the most up-to-date, real world experience into the program, proved to be very challenging. This process included developing classroom and laboratory materials that were appropriate, matching the scope of practice for invasive cardiovascular technologists, and ensuring that the CCI test matrix for the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) was met. Describe the program syllabus for both clinical and classroom. The curriculum is based on the Spokane Community College (Spokane, Washington) model, which has been the traditional benchmark for cardiovascular technology programs. The curriculum was updated to include newer modalities and equipment. The invasive-specific program exceeds the standards, with 750 didactic and formal clinical training hours, combined with over 1,000 hours of clinical training and externship performed at one of the Institute’s 28 clinical affiliates. Some of the participating affiliates include: Morton Plant Hospital and Bay Care System, Tampa General Hospital, University Community Hospital and Heart Institute, Northside Hospital and Heart Institute, and the Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point all in Florida. In addition to this program-specific training, students complete 990 clock-hours of a basic cardiovascular technician program, as well as 345 clock-hours of general education courses. Graduates of the ICT program receive an Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degree. How many students do you accept each year? Have you seen an increase in applicants over the years? CFI has established a maximum classroom size of 15 students to ensure a personal touch and a quality education so that ICT students graduate prepared for the work place. We are currently in the midst of training our third class; the ICT program has had between 8 and 12 students in each class to date. At this time, we have over 20 qualified applicants competing for the 15 available slots for our upcoming fall class. In general, what backgrounds do your students have prior to admission? A majority of the ICT students have been trained in our basic cardiovascular technician program. However, the prospective pool is not limited to these students. We have admitted successful applicants who were former paramedics and registered nurses. All qualified applicants are put through the same rigorous pre-entrance screening program. What is the annual tuition of your program? The tuition is based upon whether a prospective student qualifies for advanced placement. The total tuition can vary from $14,000 to $23,000. Federal financial aid is available to those who qualify. What textbooks, CDs and websites are used in your classes? Do you use any innovative teaching tools? Below is a list of resources used in Central Florida Institute’s ICT program: Baim, Grossman. Grossman’s Cardiac Catheterization, Angiography and Intervention (6th Edition). Darovic. Handbook of Hemodynamic Monitoring (2nd Edition). Kern M. The Cardiac Catherization Handbook (4th Edition). Kern M. The Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Handbook (2nd Edition). Berne, Levy. Cardiovascular Physiology (8th Edition). Moses, Miller, Moulton, Schneider. A Practical Guide to Cardiac Pacing (5th Edition). Aehlert. ACLS Quick Review Study Guide (2nd Edition). Freeman, Durde. Physics Made Simple (Revised Edition). Hess FC, Thomas AL. Chemistry Made Simple (Revised Edition). PowerPoint for ACLS Introduction. Grossman’s CD, which accompanies the Cardiac Catheterization book. This CDROM includes a powerful video library that provides additional visual reinforcement of concepts taught. Internet-based training from American College of Cardiology (ACC)-sponsored sites. A variety of instructor-created PowerPoint presentations. In addition, various medical website presentations are integrated into the program where appropriate. Regarding teaching tools, CFI has a complete onsite cardiac catheterization laboratory with an operating C-arm and a Witt Biomedical (Melbourne, Florida) hemodynamics recording system where the student’s formal clinical education, practice and evaluation take place. What types of clinical experiences do you offer students? In addition to the formal clinical training in CFI’s catheterization laboratory, the students are introduced to the area’s catheterization laboratories for specific clinical modules. Regular hospital visits have assisted in reinforcing the student’s interest and enthusiasm during the didactic portion of the program. Students are given many opportunities to observe diagnostic and interventional catheterization laboratories in action. They are allowed to observe PTCA procedures, pacemaker implantations, ablation procedures and diagnostic angiography studies. The program includes 1,005 clock hours of clinical and externship participation at affiliate hospital and outpatient catheterization laboratories. When do your students begin their clinical rotations? How hands-on are they when they start their rotations? The motto of CFI is: Hands-On Training That Works. Students enter their clinical externship with the basic physical skills to prepare a patient for a procedure, set up the equipment and scrub for a left heart catheterization. In addition, they are able to circulate for a left heart case, and know the fundamentals of recording. Due to the variations in recording equipment, the technical ability to record cases is left to the expertise of each clinical preceptor in their respective facilities. Our students are familiar with the basic interventional equipment as a result of practice in the on-site lab at the school. Are your students cross-trained (to scrub, circulate, record, X-ray, assess patients and administer medications)? Yes, although they possess only minimal real patient experience. Our students are cross-trained to perform a vast majority of catheterization laboratory duties. These duties include the following: scrubbing, circulating, hemodynamic monitoring, patient assessment and pharmacology. All ICT students are ACLS-certified. In addition, principles of radiation safety and imaging are included in the curriculum, as well as surgical sterile techniques. Who does your classroom and clinical teaching? CFI has a powerful group of well-qualified personnel specifically dedicated to the program for classroom instruction. Our students are placed in handpicked clinical sites and trained by career field experts while on the job. Our clinical preceptors complete very specific standards-driven training to ensure that the highest quality ICT education is provided. Fully qualified, credentialed professionals from medical and academic career fields provide all instruction. CFI prides itself on hiring full-time instructors for the didactic portion of the ICT program, and utilizing working catheterization laboratory personnel during the clinical and externship training portions of the ICT program. How much interaction do you have with hospital preceptors? During the clinical externship portion of the program, our students are under the direct supervision of clinical preceptors. These preceptors are seasoned, well-qualified technologists who have an interest in education. They are screened and approved by CFI for their ability to work with students and provide continuous evaluations. On-site visits and evaluations are provided weekly by Mr. Jim Smith, Director of Program Development. He communicates directly with the clinical preceptors regarding student progress and skill levels. Do you have a clinical instructor on site during clinical rotations? CFI instructors directly supervise clinical visits during the didactic portion of the educational program. During the clinical externship, the clinical preceptors fulfill this function. In addition, all externship sites are visited weekly. What is the employment outlook for your graduates? Florida is experiencing a rapid growth in population, and with the many new hospitals, the demand continues to grow. Other regions across the United States are also seeking qualified staff. CFI currently has three graduates placed throughout the country, including North Carolina, Nebraska and Nevada. What is the typical starting pay for graduates? While CFI graduates start in an entry-level position in the catheterization laboratory, the salary potential is well above that for most medical entry-level positions. The compensation is competitive with those who possess the education and qualifications to work in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and varies greatly from region to region. In the Tampa Bay, Florida area, starting salaries range from $16 to $24 per hour. Additionally, catheterization laboratory technologists add to their annual salary through after-hour, weekend and holiday on-call scheduling. What career opportunities have your past graduates experienced? CFI graduates have primarily been hired in fast-paced interventional labs. However, some have elected to work in a diagnostic catheterization laboratory setting. Others have taken more lucrative positions outside the state of Florida, where both diagnostic and interventional procedures are performed. These graduates have been hired by prestigious hospitals in Nevada, North Carolina and Nebraska. What is your assessment of the current demand for graduates of accredited programs, and what do you project this demand to be in the future? The population growth experienced in Florida, combined with the ever-expanding growth of catheter-based interventions, have great implications on the demand for graduates. As technology improves, there may be other ways to assess cardiac disease, but the feeling is that cardiac catheterization will continue to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The demand for CCI-registered interventional cardiology technologists is presently quite high. There are job openings all over Florida and throughout the nation. With the advent of less invasive techniques to treat advanced heart disease and an ever-growing population of aging baby boomers, it is CFI’s assessment that the need for qualified licensed cardiovascular technologists will grow exponentially in the future. How successful have your graduates been at passing the RCIS exam? The first graduating class from CFI is in the application process with Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI). They are scheduled to take the self-assessment examination in August 2005, and the graduates have indicated that they will sit for the RCIS exam this fall. All indications suggest that they will do well. How has your school’s CVT program evolved over the last five years? The CVT program at Central Florida Institute started a little over five years ago. Since its inception, the program has grown steadily to the point where it was decided to expand the program to include both the ICT program and the Cardiovascular Echocardiography and Vascular Studies program. The invasive program has been in existence for over 18 months and has experienced rapid maturation. What advice can you give people who are considering a CVT school? Visit a busy catheterization laboratory and observe the staff and procedures being performed. This will give you an idea of what is expected. You should also know that working in a catheterization laboratory means that you will be working long hours and some weekends. You cannot have back problems, because you will be expected to wear heavy lead aprons for long periods of time. You cannot be afraid of radiation, because the catheterization laboratory is one of the highest radiation exposure areas in a hospital. You need to have good study habits, or you will not develop the knowledge you need for a successful career in cardiovascular technology. The education process is rigorous, but invasive cardiovascular technology can be very rewarding. In selecting a school, you should check out the lab facilities and equipment used at the school, the affiliations that the school has with hospitals and the placement rate for its graduates. What do you consider unique about your program? Central Florida Institute is a privately funded educational organization. We offer true hands-on training with an on-site catheterization laboratory and small class size. We have what we consider to be unsurpassed cooperation and support from our area hospital clinical facilities and cardiology practices. The personal touch is what makes our program so unique! Our students are not numbers; they are people with lives, obligations, hopes and dreams. Our goal is to see our students develop skills that will translate into absolute success. Our students are the future, and we invest in them daily. Can you share a particularly funny, bizarre or proud teaching moment? Our program is proud that the first class of eleven all made it to graduation with no attrition. All eleven succeeded in finding jobs within a short time of graduating. Question for students: Why did you choose to become a CVT? Enjoy the challenge. There is no greater benefit than knowing you have helped a stranger at a stressful time in his/her life. Each case holds a challenge of its own. Advancement and fulfillment. The medical and technical aspects are interesting to me. As a paramedic, I learned how to treat cardiac problems as they presented, but oftentimes, you don’t understand the morphology of the event. Through the CVT program and clinical work, I now understand in greater detail why a person with cardiac disease is more susceptible to other cardiac events. Interesting, fast-growing, provides a great career opportunity.

NULL