Can Wisconsin's health apprenticeships become a national model? UW Health thinks so - WMPL - Houghton

Can Wisconsin's health apprenticeships become a national model? UW Health thinks so as it uses paid on-the-job training to address staff shortages. The story highlights Violet LaClair, a certified nursing assistant at UW Health in Madison, who joined an apprenticeship program started in 2018 to retrain as a medical assistant. She pays no school costs and is compensated for class time while working three days a week at the company’s Union Corners clinic performing tasks such as taking blood pressure and flushing ears, and taking two days of classes covering pharmacology, laboratory procedures, and law and ethics. UW Health says it offers apprenticeship options for 17 professions, including surgical technologists, pharmacy technicians, respiratory therapists, and registered nurses, and that more than 1,000 apprentices have graduated. The program is intended to fill a gap because Wisconsin colleges do not graduate enough workers for major health systems in southern Wisconsin. UW Health reports that unfilled entry-level positions dropped from as many as 3 in 10 roles before apprenticeships to around 1 in 10 now.