Bioscience Programs Growing
Some of Georgia’s technical colleges are boosting their biosciences programs. Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the newest offerings – either available now or in 2015.
Central Georgia Technical College
• Bio-Technology Lab Assistant
• Echocardiography
• Healthcare Science
Georgia Northwestern Technical College
• Vascular Technology
Georgia Piedmont Technical College
• Opticianry
• Medical Assisting
North Georgia Technical College
• Paramedicine
Coastal Pines Technical College
• Healthcare Science
Whether you envision working with patients, poring over health exams, records and statistics, or conducting research in a lab, the biosciences industry offers opportunities to move your career in a new direction.
The starting salary for various jobs in bioscience ranges from $30,000-$40,000 a year. With a technical college education, you can move from the classroom into a career within two years.
Georgia is poised for a surge in biosciences hiring, which is another reason to explore this field. Job opportunities include cardiology technician, biotech instrumentation and calibration, life science lab technician, biology lab assistant or technician, radiology technician and veterinary technician, among others.
Baxter International, which is building a $1 billion plasma products manufacturing campus near Covington, expects to hire 1,500 technicians, and those are likely to include graduates of the state’s technical colleges, said Jeff Rapp, chair of the Athens Technical College biotechnology program.
Due to the expected expansion of jobs, schools within the Technical College System of Georgia and other colleges are striving to provide training that employers seek when hiring.
Some of the metro area’s technical colleges have partnerships with employers that offer students real-life experience before graduating and help graduates secure jobs. WellStar, for example, donated equipment for a radiography lab at Chattahoochee Technical College that has the setup of an actual hospital. Graduates of the radiologic technology programs at Chattahoochee Tech and Gwinnett Technical College continue to achieve 100-percent pass rates on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologies certifying exam, demonstrating how metro area students are being prepared for jobs.
THE EXPERT
Atlanta Technical College began its bioscience program in 2012 after receiving a $4.8 million grant from the Georgia Department of Labor. Changes continue, as it is preparing for student growth by renovating five laboratory spaces within the college. Bioscience is a recession-proof industry, said Barry Bates, the program coordinator for the Atlanta Technical College’s bioscience program, which is grooming students for this booming job sector.
Q: Why should someone be interested in the biosciences field?
A: I call bioscience the science of now. This is the way that both science and the industry are moving. This is a global field, and a lot of these jobs will be needed over time, so these skill sets are going to be in high demand.
Q: Can you speak of any unique successes that have resulted from your program?
A: One of our students participated in a SEA Semester study abroad program where she lived on a boat for several months while conducting research in the Pacific Ocean. To be a relatively new program (at Atlanta Tech), it was phenomenal to have a student participate in such a prestigious opportunity.
Q: What kind of training does Atlanta Tech offer?
A: We offer a heavy focus on laboratory experiences. We have connections with Georgia Bio, Baxter and National, the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We also have a cell culture lab, which is not very common on this level at a number of institutions. We offer technical certificates of credit that can be earned in as little as two semesters. We’re preparing students directly for the workforce while also giving them a foundation they can expand on.
THE GRADUATE
At Athens Technical College’s biotechnology program, students earn a two-year associate of applied science degree, which can lead to jobs in biomanufacturing, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and research or environmental labs.
The typical annual salary of the college’s biotechnology program graduates is $30,000-$32,000, but some biotech companies pay up to $42,000, according to school officials. In fall 2013, 88 students were enrolled in the biotechnology program, out of 6,349 total at Athens Tech students.
Randy Persaud, 21, graduated in 2014 with an associate’s in biotechnology and certificates in both laboratory technician, and water and wastewater treatment. Through the Technical College System of Georgia’s articulation agreement with four-year institutions, Persaud, of Monroe, plans to graduate in two years with a bachelor’s in chemistry from Piedmont College.
Q: What’s exciting about this industry?
A: The field is massive and it’s growing, and there are so many applications. It’s almost hard to even find a place to start.
Q: What’s your dream job?
A: Something along the lines of instrumental analysis. It could be anything from carbohydrates to proteins. I think this is something I’d really enjoy.
Q: What did you learn in this program?
A: Wow, I learned a lot. The bioscience field was geared toward a lot of hands-on training and training in a work environment. We learned everything from microbiology, cell cultures, proteins to analytical chemistry working with machines like HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography). It was a wide spectrum and a lot of hands-on opportunities and lab work.
Q: Do you have any tips for students taking this program?
A: You get what you put into the program. If you go there with the intent to actually learn and pick up the science, it will be a great experience. If you don’t have the love for it, then I wouldn’t recommend this program. It’s a field where you’ve got to dedicate yourself conceptually to the science instead of going in there with your blinders on.
THE STUDENT
After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Tiffany Journey, 24, enrolled in Herzing University’s online health information management program. With previous college credits, the four-year program only took Journey two years at Herzing, which has an Atlanta campus. Journey plans to take her Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification test and graduate in December.
Q: What opportunities did you see in the health information management field?
A: Coming from dealing with records management (while working for the Air Force), I know that I actually like the organization part about it. I did my research and in the next, what, probably five to 10 years, this is going to be the career field that’ll grow because of the new law of having to switch from paper records to electronic records. It’s one of those fields where you have so many job descriptions, so many titles; you can do a lot of stuff in this field.
Q: What kind of job are you looking to get after graduating?
A: I wouldn’t mind being a healthcare privacy officer in a hospital. Those would be the people who if you want to request records or something like that.
Q: What type of salary are you expecting?
A: They can actually start around $35,000, and it increases with education and experience.
Q: What challenges come with trying to get into this field?
A: The only challenge is that although it’s a growing career field, it’s hard to get into because it’s one of those jobs that people get in and they stay in. It’s hard to get in, and they always want people with a lot of experience.
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