New and advantageous opportunities are on the horizon for Mississippi Delta Community College and the Greenville Higher Education Center, particularly the new physical therapist assistant program.
Ben Cloyd, who began in his new role as special assistant to the president on July 1, has hit the ground running with making sure local communities and stakeholders are informed of all of the institution’s latest program developments.
Cloyd said, “One of the things I’ve been tasked with over at GHEC is to really take a fresh look at everything we’re doing — programs we’re offering, reaching out to the community and just making sure that everything at GHEC is absolutely matching our responsibility to the community of Greenville, Washington County and even beyond so we can make sure we’re providing educational opportunities in every relevant way.”
He pointed out the emphasis GHEC and MDCC are putting on dual enrollment and being good partners with K-12 in an effort to enhance its academic program.
The physical therapist assistant program (PTA) is the newest addition to MDCC’s health science program and is exclusively housed at GHEC.
“We’re super excited about it,” Cloyd said. “It’s a great health science program that can prepare people right here in Greenville for a fabulous career and that’s really going to be great for the community.”
Program director Callie Bell said the two-year program kicked off Aug. 17.
“There are college prerequisites that are required prior to admission to the program so it does take longer than two years, but the actual program itself is a two year program,” Bell said.
She further explained the students enrolled in the program earn an Associate of Science (AS) in PTA and at that point, are allowed to sit for the national board exam to become licensed to work in the field under the supervision of a physical therapist.
Bell also noted those students who are interested in enrolling in the PTA program for the fall of 2021 would need to begin applying in November and the application deadline is set for March 1, 2021.
“It’s definitely a cornerstone example of what we’re moving towards,” Cloyd said of the PTA program. “When GHEC first started it was kind of a consortium between Delta State, MVSU, and MDCC in which a lot of the focus was on academic classes and night classes and we’re still doing those things, but we also want to continue to add to those things.”
Cloyd highlighted GHEC and MDCC’s intention of adding more practical programs, career tech and health science programs that can really prepare people, whether it be a 12, 18 or 24 month format.
He added the program is capped at a maximum of 12 students currently.
“But, as we get through these initial stages of accreditation, it’ll eventually grow to 24 and potentially beyond so we’ll be able to serve more and more people over time,” he said.
The application for the PTA program and more information can be found on MDCC’s website at msdelta.edu.
