Southeast Tech outlines expansions in radiology, sonography and medical assisting programs to meet hospital demand

Deb Letcher, a Southeast Technical College staff member, told the college board the school is expanding several health programs after requests from local hospital systems and growing student interest.

The update covered four initiatives: an articulation agreement to allow hospital-based radiology graduates to earn an applied associate degree; a new accredited online Medical Assistant diploma; expanded Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) capacity including new machines and beds; and a growing Cardiovascular Sonography program.

The radiology pathway was developed at the request of Sanford Health and Avera. Under the plan, students who complete the hospital radiology program would transfer block credit (35 credits) back to Southeast Tech to receive an associate degree in technical studies. Letcher said the college would provide approximately 30% of instructional/support time for participants while Avera would provide about 70% of the clinical instruction for the two-year program for the first year. The articulation agreement was said to be nearly complete.

On the Medical Assistant program, Letcher said the college has built an accredited online diploma to replace the nonaccredited MedSerts pathway some employers previously used. The accredited program will allow graduates to sit for certification and work more broadly across employers. The college expects to start an additional cohort of 24 students this fall and to run two cohort starts each year thereafter.

Diagnostic Medical Sonography has long wait lists in much of the country; Letcher reported 261 applicants for the program in the current cycle, with 28 accepted and 21 on the waiting list at the time of the update. Southeast Tech said it purchased new ultrasound machines and portable stretchers, converted a five-room lab formerly used by another program into an additional sonography lab, and plans a dual-start model to increase annual capacity to roughly 40 students (an increase of about 16 students per year from current levels).

Cardiovascular Sonography (focused on cardiac ultrasound) is being expanded in parallel. Letcher said the program aims to seat 30 students but routinely overfills to about 40 to allow for attrition; faculty are still teaching the newly combined cardiac/vascular curriculum and the program is preparing for an accreditation site visit in May. She said an accreditor indicated no substantive change filing would be required for the cardiac program, which should allow the college to move more quickly.

Board members asked for detail about student options while waiting for DMS admission. Letcher said waiting applicants may seek employment, pursue other certificates or attend other institutions; the college also tries to shepherd students to related credentials when practical. A board member asked about the college’s planning for credentialing bodies; Letcher cited JRC-DMS (the Joint Review Committee on Diagnostic Medical Sonography) for DMS and the Commission on Accreditation for Allied Health Education Programs or similar accrediting commissions for cardiovascular programs.

Letcher said Sanford was offering a $15,000 tuition-support package for some students in partnership recruitment materials the hospital is circulating internally. She described the changes as steps to address industry demand, supply of clinical supervision, and the local labor market’s need for more allied-health graduates.

Board members responded positively to the expansions and praised the dual-start and online options as ways to ease access and shorten student wait times. Letcher closed by saying the college is “trying really hard to be responsive.”