At age 18, Justin Davis began working at Tucson Medical Center transporting patients around the hospital’s sprawling campus at 5301 E. Grant Road. Now, 10 years later, thanks to an in-house professions training program the hospital calls "TMC-U," Davis is studying to become a nurse practitioner while working in the hospital’s gastrointestinal department.

TMC-U is a program addressing the critical shortages of medical workers - especially nurses - facing hospitals across the country.

Stephanie Close, programs coordinator, and student Cynthia Auen check blood pressure of ‘mannequin’ patient. Advertisement

Before he decided to become a nurse practitioner - a nurse with a graduate degree in advanced practice nursing — Davis worked his way progressively up the career ladder at TMC, first becoming a patient care technician, then a licensed practical nurse, and then a registered nurse with an associate degree in nursing.

Under the TMC-U program, the hospital pays the cost of tuition and books for eligible employees who commit to work for the hospital for a specific period of time after successfully completing all educational requirements.

While other organizations sometimes reimburse students after they complete their studies, TMC-U doesn’t ask its employees to put any money up front to further their education. That’s a big plus for employees like Davis.

"It’s great. I came from a family that doesn’t have a lot of money," Davis said.

Kathleen Brooks, manager of workforce development at TMC, said the program is "a good recruitment tool" for the hospital. Not only does TMC recruit and win the loyalty of employees like Davis, but they have other programs that capture the interest of talented high school students before those students move on to another potential employer.

TMC’s Go! Program works with area schools like Catalina High School, a magnet school in the Tucson Unified School District for students who excel in math and science. The program exposes them to half-day workshops about health careers at TMC.

High school students enter a certified nursing assistant program in their senior year and in the summer after graduation, they enter a transitional program for patient care interns. As interns, they prepare and take their state exam to become certified nursing assistants and receive extra training to qualify them for employment as patient care technicians.

"We do a lot of shadowing experience with high school students. Our nurse managers are so pro-student. They really understand the need to have them in the hospital – they really get it," Brooks said.

TMC’s workforce development department partners with institutions including Pima Community College, Northern Arizona University and the Maricopa Community College system’s Rio Salado College to provide training for nursing degrees and specifically for radiology and surgical technicians.

TMC’s programs are open to outside candidates as well as the hospital’s own employees, but the vast majority of those taking advantage of the program are already TMC employees. This past year, of about 350 total students, about 300 were TMC employees.

Like Davis, employees who may work in transportation, food services or housekeeping may decide they’d like to move into careers involving them directly with patient care. When they come to Brooks’ department, she and her staff of nine help them create a career path, usually beginning with pursuit of training as a certified nursing assistant/patient care technician.

Program participants must maintain a "B" average and must be in good standing at the hospital. They also must agree to abide by program guidelines, which include staying with the hospital for certain lengths of time after graduating. The amount of time varies depending upon the program.

Brooks, who has been with TMC for 28 years, understands what it means to go through the educational ranks. She began as a clerical employee in the hospital’s operating room before TMC-U ever existed. Through the hospital’s tuition reimbursement program, she furthered her career, eventually ending up in the facility’s human resources department and becoming an advocate for employee education.

"The hospital helped me achieve my goals," Brooks said. She later took charge of the workforce development program and was part of a team that created the TMC-U concept, the Go! Program and the Learn, Earn, Advance and Prosper (LEAP) program, which trains and educates out-of-school youth and those transitioning from welfare to work.

To provide an on-campus education facility so participating employees wouldn’t need to leave the hospital’s campus to get their training, TMC established its clinical learning center a few years ago in a building it purchased adjacent to the hospital campus.

The learning center, managed by Stephanie Close, a registered nurse, features rooms filled with electronic mannequins who can be manipulated by trainers to talk, react and provide life-like, hands-on training for the nursing students. The rooms include video equipment to tape the way students interact with the mannequins as a learning tool. The learning center also has rooms full of computers and study rooms for the convenience of the students.

Brooks said potential employees hear about the program through word of mouth.

"We take a lot of pride in what we do and a lot of people have worked here a number of years after going through the programs," Brooks said. "A majority of people do stay loyal to the organization."

Contact reporter Ed Egger at eegger@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4238.