- Georgia Wiregrass Technical College’s Valdosta campus has introduced a Medical Laboratory Technology and Phlebotomy program.
- 142 of Georgia's 159 counties face a shortage of health professionals, making programs like Wiregrass' essential for filling critical healthcare roles.
- Watch the video to hear how students are addressing these gaps in the medical field.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
Quamecia Smith originally moved to Valdosta to become a nurse.
"I love Valdosta! it's to me, coming from a city area, it's pretty country, it's quiet. It's not that city."
She decided to get her start at Wiregrass.
"I always heard great things about Wiregrass. I know I could always chose somewhere else to go. I feel like they had a lot of different opportunities for to present to us."
And that different opportunity came with their new regionally accredited Medical Laboratory Technology and Phlebotomy program.
Quamecia tells me she made the switch, especially since medical training like this is usually seen in bigger places.
"I would have thought maybe in major cities and other major areas, but here, like in a small town like this, I would have never thought."
And its not just labs seeing a shortage... its the medical field as a whole.
I checked the Georgia Department of Community Health.
Access to healthcare is a struggle in rural Georgia, where 142 counties face a shortage of health professionals.
"We have a long history of partnerships with health systems in this area and they reached out with the need that is in our immediate area and beyond, and so they brought this program."
It's why Leslie Cooper, Wiregrass' MLT and phlebotomy program director, tells me on top of addressing professional shortage, this give students more options in the medical field, which Quamecia plans on taking full advantage of
"So after I finish with this program, I want to go ahead and get in the field so that I can work alongside other established scientists. I do want to get back into school and just go as high as I can go when it comes to being in the lab."
Cooper tells me this program is also seeking accreditation for national certifications and licenses in other states. In Valdosta, I'm Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.
