EOC Tech Launches Physical Therapy Tech Program, Empowering Students and Expanding Horizons in Healthcare.

Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center, (EOC Tech) strives to provide opportunities for students to learn, grow, and enter the workforce confident and capable. With that vision in mind came the launch of a new program, one in which the heartbeat is rooted in service, opportunity and community impact. The newly added Physical Therapy Technician program at EOC Tech provides additional career training options for local students, designed to inspire, broaden views of healthcare, and ultimately work to meet industry needs in the community and state.

The current program offerings available within EOC Tech’s Health Careers are Foundations of Health, Pre-Nursing, and the newly established Physical Therapy Technician program. Shawn Meek, EOC Tech’s Executive Director, and Emily Gideon, Educational Services Director, said that expanding programs is an ongoing conversation at the EOC Tech campus. “Adding PT Tech just made a lot of sense,” Gideon said. “When we asked the questions ‘How can we serve more students?’ ‘What’s relevant to our area?’ What’s our community/economy need?’ The conversation always circled back to a health related field, so the Physical Therapy Technician program seemed to be the best fit.”

PT Tech program Instructor and former Occupational Therapist, Amy Hawkins has healthy connections in the world of health careers, along with 12 years Industry
experience. Her knowledge and experience allowed her to confidently take the reins of the program and seek to lead students through a vital career pathway, guiding them toward a rewarding future.

“I worked as a PT Tech while in school pursuing my degree in Occupational Therapy and saw a lot of value in that position,” she said. “The opportunity to work with patients in that setting laid a solid foundation for my career.”

When Hawkins pitched the idea to EOC Tech Administrators about expanding health career offerings, it didn’t take long for the idea to spark interest, ignite research, campus visits and handfuls of conversations which only served to fan the flame and make clear the positive impact the addition could make for students, the EOC Tech campus, and surrounding communities.

“The allied health component creates a pathway that’s a little more broad than the traditional healthcare field,” Hawkins said. “Students will have the foundation to pursue higher education and enter into more specialized career fields if they want to, but that’s not the only pathway available to have a fulfilling and successful career in allied health.” Students who enroll in the program can expect to learn how to assist licensed physical and occupational therapists in supporting patients as they recover from injuries, regain mobility, and develop skills for daily living. The program combines classroom instruction with hands-on training in anatomy and physiology, patient care techniques, therapeutic exercises, and rehabilitation practices. Because of the wide range of health topics the course covers, the hope and idea behind the program is that students will realize the diverse roles that make up the health industry.

“There are students in our sending schools who are interested in a healthcare career but don’t want to go into nursing or become a doctor, " Meek said. “They haven’t come to our campus because we haven’t had an option that interests them, but in this program, students will get to see what it’s like to play a role in returning people back to a certain quality of life. Because of that, we believe we will recruit and add diversity to the population of students on our campus.”

Program exploration and career readiness often go hand-in-hand. At EOC Tech, the goal isn’t simply to educate students, but to increase their understanding of career
requirements, opportunities and expectations, in addition to establishing a clearer understanding of their strengths and interests so they can make the best decision possible about their future. Students in the PT Tech Program will participate in ‘mentorships;’ a hands-on-learning opportunity where they will shadow health professionals in the field.

“Ultimately, we want the fact that students are on our campus to be an advantage,” Meek said. “They may start the program and then decide that pursuing PT Tech isn’t what they want and that’s OK. We want them to have the tools to make those decisions.” The addition of the PT Tech program took years to come to fruition, but now with the program established, along with a designated program space designed to equip, students have the opportunity to explore the world of allied health and take confident steps toward their future.