When I first approached recruiting in January of oneof my many questions was obviously regarding the accreditation status of thecardiovascular program. Having done my due diligence in researching the school, I was aware of the institutional accreditation through ABHES and the stateaccreditation issued by THEC. I was not confused about the question I asked, nor was I confused regarding the answer I received.
Like my fellow classmates, and so students program-wide, I was told the program itself was accredited. Iwas also told the program was run by a licensed cardiologist who was on staff atSouthern Hills. They were the first of many lies. I was promised the CVT program would prepare me for takingthe RCIS registration, once my associates work was completed.
In addition to15 months of classwork and lab preparation, we would spend 3 months at clinicalsites in and around the city. Upon meeting our PD, he also advised mepersonally that the program was indeed accredited as he himself had acquiredit. I expressed concern because the senior class at the time heard rumors regardingits legitimacy. I began the February session with an end date of August 3rd 2012. Our PD left the schoolapproximately two months after our program began.
Upon his departure we learnedseveral details. He was not licensed to practice in the United States. Hedbeen a cardiologist in Ecuador and had never worked in a cath lab. He was onstaff at Southern Hills answering phones. We lost the first of our classmatesin our third month when her grade was changed for a class taken our first modby an instructor operating as an interim MA PD, who claimed Molina had demandedshe pass the student so when he left she felt comfortable changing the grade.
When a second CVT PD was hired it was divulged to us the programwas NOT approved for accreditation by the JRC-CVT which is a necessarycomponent for sitting for the RCIS registration test. PD2 assured us in April of his confidence regarding accreditation approval as hed been throughthe process before. His irritation with the administration became evident inthe fall of 2011 and we were regularly updated regarding the schools inabilityto acquire clinical sites due to the negative connotations linked to theschools name.
As this is another major component of accreditation approval, the visit by the JRC-CVT was impossible. Further there is no CVT lab. The only lab available isgeared toward the radiology program and over the course of a year weve used itfor two class periods total. One afternoon was spent practicing the gloving andgowning procedure and another was instruction regarding cardiac cath.
Ourlabs have been confined to the use of a homemade dummy created by the juniorclass at their own expense during their first mod. We have not used the dummysince November and in their frustration the junior class has disassembled it sonow we havent even the ability to gain a moderate amount of practicalexperience through its use.ccI hasconfirmed their requirements regarding actual lab hours as they pertain to ourability to sit for the RCIS. We have been denied the ability to generate thosehours.
In January of Fortis/MedVances Head of Radiologyaddressed our class and others regarding our program and its viability aftergraduation. He blamed a downturned economy and a flooding of the radiologymarket. When we told him we were not in the radiology department he advised uswe needed to accept we would not be able to get jobs in our chosen field so weshould just accept we may have to take positions answering phones orfunctioning as MAs in a doctors office.
He advised we should anticipate doingclinicals in a vascular lab. As this is outside our scope of practice, weexpressed our concern as our RCIS will never allow us to be hired for a vascularposition. We havenot even a workingknowledge of the peripheral vasculature as the bulk of our education hasconcerned cardiac access only. He further advised us that we should just becontent with the experience.
When we advised the Head of Radiology of our knowledge ofCCI requirements concerning, very specifically, 416 lab hours he assured usthey have someone who will sign off on our lab hours. Lab hours that DO NOTexist. We have this entire conversation recorded. Further, in February they have hired PD3. She does not currently hold an RCIS whichviolates CCIs requirements for accreditation.
She does not teach. Per ourinstructor, PD3 is there in an administrative capacity only toassist making the clinical sites ready for a JRC-CVT visit in April. For each class, Ive had to purchase supplemental books asthe materials provided by the school are either incomplete or unusable. Wevebeen given cartoon books for explanation of EKGs, a class taught by an MA instructorwho knew nothing about reading EKGs and spent the majority of the mod givingus vocabulary quizzes rather than explaining cardiac rhythms.
Our Law andEthics instructor provided us with the details of her wardrobe in 1988 butcouldnt tell the difference between a male symbol and a female symbol as itrelated to medical charting. Our cardiac disease instructor, who has a degreein physics, refused to teach within the scope of our experience while using abook intended for third year medical residents. Our physics instructionincluded entire class periods discussing prostitution, military tactics, andthe undead. I have notes.
There has not been a week in which our class time hasnot been interrupted by administrations recruiters asking us to find them morestudents. They offer such incentives as pizza parties and gas cards. We aresupposed to be acquiring the skills to maneuver through our bodys mostimportant organ and are instead forced to endure scantily clad, cheaplyperfumed, overly made up administrative assistants performing impromptu rapsin the middle of an invasive procedure lecture.
I was physically threatened bya faculty member in front of not only my class but members of our senior classand our PD. The instructor has since been removed from her class but wasnever reprimanded for her behavior that day. Our PD was teaching 44 hours a week. When wewere not being serenaded by admin, our classes were halted by faculty who sawnothing wrong with barging into a lecture or test to discuss faculty politics, complain openly about administration or simply to discuss personal matters.
Weve not had a full class period in three months. Due to a 44 hour teachingschedule and the lack of administrative support our PD, who was also our instructor, was never able to make it to class on time being continually called intomeetings or having to assist less experienced instructors to maintain theirclasses, or stay through an entire period, or provide the support outside ofthe classroom that was so desperately needed.
He has since left. Our currentinstructor, did in fact work in a cardiac cath labs but has had noexperience in instruction. She comes to the classes completely unprepared andreads directly from the book. On 2/10, our instructor advised us that the powerhouse ofthe cell was the microchrombrium. She wrote it on the board. Shes advisedduring lectures that she knows whats abnormal with regard to rhythms, cardiacvasculature, etc. But not to question her regarding normal values because shedoesnt know them.
We were promised knowledgeable experienced instructors, instead were regaled with her friends medical history, her step-fathersalcohol abuse, and a litany of misinformation regarding medical informationthat is vital to our education. On 02/15, our instructor had a panic attack in front of the class. She broke down in bodyshaking sobs, screaming that we were not respectful of her teachingstatus.
On 2/16, she gave apowerpoint presentation which discussed Embryology. The entire presentation wasmismarked Prenatal as opposed to perinatal. When approached about the errorPam advised You know what I meant. On 2/21, we arrived to find that for athird time since the beginning of the year we had no instructor and were not provided anyfurther details by administration.
We had to procure a sign in sheet fromanother instructor, sign ourselves in and out, and maintain that sheet untilthe following day when we returned to class. At no point in time did we receiveany instruction on that day. On 2/22, our instructor advised all patients withhypertension have cor pulmonale, in actuality the reverse is true. On 2/24/12we were told COPD is when the areolas in your lungs get clogged.
Im sureinternists everywhere will breathe a sigh of relief when we arrive at ourclinic sites to inform them theyve long been mistaking the alveoli for whatare actually areolas. So I ask you, would you want me to perform YOUR motherscardiac cath? In our entire programat this time there is no instructor that has their RCIS. When approached aboutclinical sites our Dean was quoted as saying, If you think its so easy, YOUgo out and find them.
He has since resigned along with our Campus President. We were promised clinical sites. We were placated with alist of hospitals with whom the institution had long and securerelationships. Weve been told there are six sites, 9 sites, even that therewill be 11 sites. No one has been able to produce those sites to date. I am a dedicated student. I have maintained a 3.91 GPA, earning As in all but our Cardiac Disease class for which I earned a B.
I am asingle parent who left a full time job based on the assurances of thisinstitution that they could provide the instruction I needed to earn my degree. As of this day I can honestly say, I am not prepared to enter a cath lab oneven an observatory basis.in my opinion, the school was not prepared to offerthis course and has made promises they cannot keep.
They should not bepermitted the opportunity to continue doing this to others. Alongwith my classmates, nearly program-wide, weve complained to THEC as well andhave sought legal counsel. They have procured our fees and federal grants underfraudulent pretenses and must be stopped from destroying other peoples livesas eventually one of their students will kill someone.
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