Programs of Study- Health Technologies
The following associate of applied science (A.A.S.) degree, diploma, and certificate programs are located in the Health Technologies Division. All programs are not offered on every campus. As with all GNTC programs, students interested in Health Technologies Division programs should consult specific program information in this catalog to see where the program is offered and visit or call the Admissions Office to discuss program admission requirements and entry dates. The following is a list of the Health Technologies degrees, diplomas, and certificates that GNTC offers. The letters following the program names identify the campuses where the programs are taught. (F-Floyd County Campus, G-Gordon County Campus, P-Polk County Campus, W-Walker County Campus, and WM-Whitfield Murray Campus).
Click on Program Names Below for Information and Curriculum
Associate of Applied Science Degree Programs
Adult Echocardiography (EC33) - F
Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS3) - F
Health Care Management (HC23) - F, W
Health Information Management Technology (HI13) - W
Radiologic Technology (RT23) - F
Respiratory Care (RCT3) - F
Vascular (VA13) - F
Diploma Programs
Dental Assisting (DA12) - G
Health Information Coding (HI12) - W
Certificate Programs
Basic Dental Assisting (BDA1) - G
Health Care Assistant (HA21) - C, F, G, P, W, WM
Health Care Science (HS21) - C, F, G, W, WM
Health Information Technician (HI61) - W
Mammography (MA11) - F
Pediatric Echocardiography (PE11) - F
Phlebotomy Technician (PT21) - F, W
Program lengths vary from three months to two years. While most pre-occupational curriculum are available during the day and evening on GNTC’s four campuses, most occupational curriculum are held during the day on the Floyd County and Walker County Campuses.
Enrollment Procedures and Information for Health Technologies Georgia Northwestern Technical College
I. Admission Procedures
- Refer to the Admissions Procedures outlined in the Admissions Policy and complete all requirements.
- Complete all requirements for entry in the health technology program of choice. Health Technologies programs each have additional entrance requirements or pre-occupational curriculum that should be taken prior to taking occupational curriculum or receiving official acceptance to the program. Advisors will discuss these requirements with their students. Specific requirements are listed under the program descriptions. When a student is in the final semester of completing courses, he/she will complete a form in the Office of Student Affairs requesting a review of course work at the end of that semester. This form will be available to students during the third week of the semester. An announcement will be made to students regarding this process.
- All students who complete their pre-occupational curriculum with a “C” or better, apply for addition to the Health Technologies eligibility pool, and view the mandatory online Health Technologies program orientation will be added to the Health Technologies eligibility pool. If a student has not satisfactorily completed the pre-occupational curriculum (example: did not earn a grade of “C” or higher in any required pre-occupational course or did not view the mandatory Health Technologies program orientation), the student’s name will not be placed in the Health Technologies eligibility pool for his/her program of choice. Once the student’s academic transcript has been reviewed and it is determined that all pre-occupational requirements have been successfully completed and all classes are within their allowed time frame for possible placement in the Health Technologies eligibility pool of their choice, students will be notified by regular mail service to schedule their Psychological Services Bureau Health aptitude Exam (PSB) by following the instructions in the letter. Once the entrance exam is completed, each student’s total score will be calculated, and he/she can be entered into the Health Technologies eligibility pool. During the semester before the semester students are selected to begin occupational curriculum (for the program selected), the Health Technologies administration staff will use the competitive admissions policies and procedures for each individual program to select those most qualified for entry into the program. All students in the eligibility pool will be notified of their status and advised of their options.
*Students on Health Technologies waiting lists. Current health students who entered the college several semesters ago, and whose names remain on waiting lists for entry into specific programs, will continue to be admitted to individual health programs from the waiting list until the waiting list for each health program is exhausted. If an applicant is unable to enroll in the semester for which he/she receives notification to enter, he/she will be allowed to defer one time only. This deferral will allow the applicant to enter with the next class selected for his/her chosen program of study. If the applicant is unable to enter with the second class, the applicant’s name will be removed from the waiting list, and he/she can reapply for the program via the current competitive admissions process.
- Upon completion of all items (A-C) above, students will receive official notification of acceptance and directions on how to complete enrollment into the Health Technologies program of choice. Or, the student will be notified of his/her non-selected status and invited to make an appointment with the Health Technologies administration offices to discuss their options.
- Attend mandatory programmatic orientation prior to beginning occupational curriculum. In the orientation session, you will find directions on how to complete all necessary steps to enter the Health Technologies program of choice. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following:
- Return completed Medical Report Form certifying ability to meet physical and mental performance requirements.
- Obtain approved Criminal History Report if selected by a program. A completed report from an approved provider must be submitted prior to entry into any Health Technologies program. Contact the Health Technologies administration office for the Floyd County campus or the Nursing and Allied Health Technologies division for the Walker County campus for an approved list of providers.
- Complete a Health Stream or Tennessee Clinical Placement System TCPS orientation if attending the Walker County Campus. The cost is ten dollars ($10). This fee for online in-services is required by all area hospitals that serve as clinical sites for GNTC in Walker County, Whitfield County, and Hamilton County, TN.
- Pay Liability Insurance Fee for Health Technology student: $15
II. Admissions Categories
Admission to the Health Technologies Division will be in one of the following categories. Minimum admission requirements are implemented for each standard degree, diploma, or certificate program.
- Learning Support/Provisional (During pre-occupational curriculum only)
- Health Technologies - Pre-occupational
- Occupational
- Learning Support/Provisional Admissions: Persons who seek to enroll at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and do not satisfy required admission standards for entry into the Health Technologies programs are classified as Learning Support or Provisional admission status as defined in the Admissions Status section of the Admissions Policy. Upon completion of Learning Support or Provisional status requirements, students will be classified as Regular status.
- Health Technologies - Pre-occupational: All students taking pre-occupational curriculum in preparation for admission into a Health Technologies program are enrolled in either Health Care Assistant (HA21), Health Care Science (HS21). This qualifies the student to receive financial aid while taking the required courses for admission into the Health Technologies program of choice.
- Occupational Program: These students are accepted into their respective programs and have completed all pre-occupational curriculum, all program specific requirements, and are either waiting to start occupational curriculum or are currently taking occupational curriculum.
III. Course Validity Duration
Certain pre-occupational curriculum are considered to be of key importance to program completion and are only valid within a set time frame preceding occupational program entry. Students who have completed bachelor degrees, have been employed three of the past five years in an allied health occupation, involved in direct patient care, or are currently in the Health Technologies - (program designated) category may apply for a duration extension at the discretion of the Health Technologies Division faculty. Students may take and pass an exam covering the objectives of the course if the duration of acceptance time has elapsed.
| Course |
Duration of acceptance |
| Anatomy & Physiology with lab |
5 years |
| College Chemistry |
5 years |
| College Algebra |
5 years |
| College Physics |
5 years |
| Introduction to Microbiology with lab |
5 years |
|
|
Competency Tests
Competency tests are administered each semester for persons wishing to establish credit for courses they have taken, for which they received a grade of “C” or better, which have exceeded the course validity limit. These courses may be transfer courses or courses taken at GNTC. The competency test establishes that they still retain competency in that subject.
For details on competency testing at GNTC, refer to the “Academic Information” section of this catalog.
Upon petition from a student, credit by examination may be given. If circumstantial evidence, such as experiential learning, indicates the probability of special technical aptitude or knowledge on the part of the petitioning student, a written, oral, and/or performance examination will be developed and administered by an instructor of the course. Permission to take such an examination must be granted by a health technology or nursing and allied health instructor. Students who score 80% or higher on all components of the examination will be awarded a grade of “EX” for the course. The “EX” indicates credit by examination. The “EX” carries no grade points, but the number of credit hours normally assigned to the course will be awarded. A student is eligible to challenge a course only one time. The challenge exam must be taken before the first day of the class in which the student is enrolled. If the student misses his/her scheduled exam appointment, he/she must complete another application with payment and reschedule with the instructor.
Entrance Requirements for Health Technologies
I. Age
17 years old for entrance into Health Technology pre-occupational curriculum
18 years old for entrance into Health Technology programs
II. Education
A High school diploma or GED® is required for all Health Technologies programs. Detailed information about education requirements is found under the Education section of the Admissions Policy.
III. Health
Applicants must be able to attend school regularly and meet the physical and mental performance requirements of their course, including those required at the medical affiliates. All Health Technologies programs require completion of the Medical Report Form after receiving official acceptance into the program. Medical Report Forms cannot be issued prior to program entry.
IV. Assessment Results
Applicants for all health programs must make the minimum required scores in reading, writing, and numeric skills (including algebra for some programs) on the Admission Placement Test (ASSET/COMPASS) or one of the approved entrance tests (example, SAT, ACT) to be admitted as regular students. Generally, students are not admitted to Health Technologies programs on a provisional basis. An applicant who has completed, with a “C” grade or better, transferable English and math courses from an accredited institution may be exempt from taking the entrance examination.
Minimum Required Scores
Refer to the Placement Cut Scores chart for required placement test scores for Health Technologies programs. The chart is available online at http://www.gntc.edu/admissions/testing.php.
V. Criminal Background Results
Upon being accepted into the occupational curriculum of your program of study each student in Health Technologies must have a criminal background check and a drug screen conducted by an approved agency. You will be notified by your program faculty of when these actions must be completed. Students may contact the Health Technologies Division administration staff (Floyd County Campus) at 706-295-6882 or 706-295-6966 or the Health Technologies Division administration staff (Walker County Campus) at 706-764-3851 or 706-764-3520 to obtain a list of approved agencies. Once the approved background check and drug screen have been completed, any questionable results will be reviewed by the clinical affiliates at which the students would be performing their clinical practicum. If the clinical affiliates cannot allow a student to participate at their sites due to the results of the criminal background check and/or drug screen, the program faculty will make an effort to place the GNTC student at another clinical affiliate. If the faculty is unable to find a clinical affiliate that will allow the student to participate in clinical practicum at their sites, the student will not be able to enter or complete the Health Technologies program.
Note: Some Health Technologies programs have additional requirements, such as additional course completion, additional test scores, professional credentials, or state licensure prerequisites. Please refer to the specific program description for more detailed information. Also, some clinical affiliates may require a specific background vendor and/or drug testing in order to attend clinicals at that institution.
Physical and Mental Performance Requirements for Health Technologies
The Health Technologies Division faculty has specified the following non-academic criteria (technical standards) which all applicants and enrolled students are expected to meet in order to participate in the Health Technologies Division programs and professional practice. The ability to meet the physical technical standards is documented by the student signing the technical standards declaration form. A student is considered compliant when the student has signed the Technical Standards form applicable to his/her program area which declares that they are able to perform the technical Standards with or without accommodations. The form also contains contact information for the ADA coordinator that serves their campus.
All candidates for a Health Technologies degree must meet intellectual, physical, and social core performance standards necessary to provide safe patient care in an independent manner. The areas below include examples of necessary activities and skills but are not all-inclusive.
- Critical Thinking: Critical thinking ability sufficient for clinical judgment. Examples include identification of cause/effect relationships in clinical situations, development of plans of care, transferring knowledge from one situation to another, evaluating outcomes; problem solving; prioritizing; and using short and long term memory. *, **
- Interpersonal: Interpersonal abilities sufficient to interact with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds. Examples include establishing rapport with patients/clients, families, and colleagues; negotiation of interpersonal conflict; and respect of cultural diversity.
- Communication: Communication abilities sufficient for verbal and written interaction with others. Examples include explanation of treatment procedures; initiation of health teaching, documentation and interpretation of nursing actions and patient/client responses, and written and oral reports to other health care professionals.*
- Mobility: Physical abilities sufficient for movement from room to room and in small spaces. Examples include moving around in a patient’s room, work spaces and treatment areas; administration of cardiopulmonary procedures such as resuscitation; sitting or standing and maintaining balance for long periods; twisting, bending, stooping; moving quickly in response to possible emergencies; pushing, pulling, lifting or supporting a dependent adult patient; squeezing with hands and fingers; and repetitive movements.
- Motor Skills: Gross and fine motor abilities sufficient for providing safe, effective nursing and patient care. Examples include calibration and use of equipment, positioning of dependent adult patients/clients, grasping and manipulation of small objects/instruments, using a computer keyboard, and writing with a pen.*
- Hearing: Auditory ability sufficient for monitoring and assessing health needs. Examples include hearing monitor and pump alarms, emergency signals fire alarms, auscultatory sounds, and cries for help.
- Visual: Visual ability sufficient for observation and assessment necessary in nursing care. Examples include observation of patient/client responses such as respiratory rate and depth, skin color, and other physical signs; visualization of monitors, watches with second hands, medication labels and vials, and increments on a medication syringe; visualization of objects from twenty inches to twenty feet away; use of depth perception and peripheral vision; distinguishing colors; and reading written documents.
- Tactile: Tactile ability sufficient for physical assessment. Examples include performance of palpation, functions of physical examination (such as discrimination of pulses and detection of temperature), and functions related to therapeutic intervention (such as insertion of a catheter).
- Emotional: Emotional stability sufficient to tolerate rapidly changing conditions and environmental stress. Examples include establishment of therapeutic interpersonal boundaries, providing patients/clients with emotional support, adapting to changing conditions in the work environment and stress, dealing with unexpected or unpredictable events, maintaining focus on task, performing multiple tasks concurrently, and being able to handle strong emotions
*Is additionally documented by satisfactory completion of the pre-occupational course requirements.
**Is additionally documented by satisfactory completion of the ASSET/COMPASS entrance exam requirements of the Health Technology programs.
Health Technologies Program Accreditations
Some individual programs within the Health Technologies Division hold program-specific accreditations or state required division approvals. Individual program accreditations and approval are identified below:
Dental Assisting
The Dental Assisting program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, American Dental Association (www.ada.org).
Commission on Dental Accreditation
American Dental Association
211 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Telephone: 312-440-4653
Diagnostic Medical Sonography; Adult Echocardiography; Vascular
The Ultrasound programs at Georgia Northwestern Technical College are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JRC-DMS).
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
9355 – 113th St. N, #7709
Seminole, FL 33775
Phone: 727-210-2350
Fax: 727-210-2354
Health Information Management Technology
The Health Information Management Technology program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
CAHIIM
233 N. Michigan Ave, 21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60101-5800
Phone: 312-233-1100
www.cahiim.org
Radiologic Technology
The Radiologic Technology program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology. Additional information regarding program effectiveness data may be obtained by contacting the JRCERT. This is a 5 year accreditation expiring 2021.
JRCERT
20 North Wacker Drive
Suite 2850
Chicago, IL 60606-3182
Phone: 312-704-5300
Fax: 312-704-5304
Website: www.jrcert.org
E-mail: mail@jrcert.org
Respiratory Care
The Respiratory Care program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). Georgia Northwestern Technical College Respiratory Care CoARC #200485.
Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
264 Precision Blvd.
Telford, TN 37690
(817) 283-2835
www.coarc.com
Pre-Occupational and Occupational Course Requirements
Degree and Diploma Programs
Courses taken during a student’s pre-occupational period provide a foundation of knowledge built upon later during the occupational program courses. Pre-occupational courses must be taken before a student enters the program of choice for which they qualify. Occupational courses must be taken after a student is accepted and enters the program for which they qualify. Specific pre-occupational and occupational course requirements for each degree and diploma program are listed on the following pages. See the individual program advisor for more information.