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School of Health Professions
radiography graduates use X-rays as well as the emerging
technologies of computerized tomography, magnetic resonance
imaging and bone densitometry.
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Crisis
Stems From Health Care Worker Shortage
By Cheri Ghan
As the nation continues to cope with the nursing
shortage, another deficit of workers in the medical field is developing
into what some health officials believe is an even bigger crisis.
Shortages are being reported in the more than 200 allied health
professions and there are not enough graduates to fill the positions.
The University of Missouri-Columbia is taking several steps to
combat the problem, including exploring cooperative arrangements
with other universities to deliver programs and attempting to
attract more students to the program with flexible classes as
well as distance learning.
MU School
of Health Professions Associate Dean Kevin Rudeen says the
number of students in such fields as occupational therapy, physical
therapy, respiratory therapy, radiography, nuclear medicine, ultrasound
sonographers and speech/language pathology cannot keep pace with
the demand. He notes this shortage may become even worse than
the nursing shortage because there are generally more nurses than
individuals in specific allied health professions working in a
hospital setting.
Health Professions graduates fill a critical need for specialists
in medical ultrasound, which is rapidly becoming the most
frequently used health-imaging model. The school’s
graduate program offers the only diagnostic medical ultrasound
master’s degree in the country.
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“A critical shortage is coming
because with less numbers to start with, any change is significant,”
Rudeen said. “When you lose one of five employees, you lose
20 percent of your workforce. If you lose one of 400, it’s
a very small percentage of the workforce.”
Legislation pending in the U.S. Congress
would provide scholarships for the cost of tuition in exchange
for students agreeing to work at least one year at health care
facilities identified as having critical shortages. The legislation
also would establish a student loan fund.
Kristofer Hagglund, associate dean for health
policy in the School of Health Professions, says the bipartisan
effort of the legislation is critical to increasing its chances
of passing.
“It took a lot of effort to get
it introduced; now, advocacy by the principal stakeholders is
essential,” Hagglund said. “It would provide the needed
support to increase the output of allied health professionals.
Increasing the number of graduates is the only method to resolving
the growing and critical health professions shortage. Hospitals
and other health care facilities will be facing a work-force crisis
and are likely to support this legislation.”
In 2004, MU graduated 116 students in seven
degree-granting programs in its School of Health Professions.
Rudeen reports nearly 100 percent job placement of students, with
many students landing jobs before they graduated and most placements
coming within 30 days of graduation. The 2004 health professions
graduates also reported having the highest entry level salaries
of all MU graduates and many graduates also are finding “sign-on”
bonuses because employers are highly motivated to hire them.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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