NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- Beginning in the fall of 2002, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine will offer a certificate program in general diagnostic radiography – a program offered, in part, to address a nationwide shortage of qualified radiology technical professional staff.

The program, based at UNC, will represent a partnership among UNC Health Care, Alamance Regional Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center.

Three information meetings are scheduled:

· Duke University Medical Center: 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday (April 29) at room 1515 of the center’s department of radiology.

· Alamance Regional Medical Center: 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 1) in the center’s education room.

· UNC Health Care: 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 3 in room G-0406, on the ground floor of the North Carolina Women’s Hospital.

A survey conducted by the American Hospital Association in fall 2001 found the vacancy rate for medical imaging technologists to be the highest of any health profession, with nearly one out of every seven radiologic positions unfilled.

In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 75,000 more radiological technologists will be needed in 2010 than were needed in 2000.

The 21-month program will incorporate learning in the classroom, the laboratory and clinical settings. Students will have rotations in orthopedics, chest, critical care areas, trauma areas, pediatrics and gastrointestinal and genitourinary procedures at the three partner-hospitals. They will also have an opportunity to work with patients of all ages and with a wide variety of illnesses, injuries and needs, said Joy J. Renner, director of the division of radiologic science at the UNC School of Medicine.

Preference on admissions will be given to residents of Alamance, Caswell, Orange, Chatham and Durham counties. Students must have SAT scores or, preferably, some college course experience. Completion of high school algebra, biology and chemistry is required, with physics preferred.

For more information on the program, contact Renner at jrenner@med.unc.edu or call (919) 966-5146.

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