LYNDHURST, N.J. – Bergen Community College officials, including (from left) Paramedic Science Director/Professor Jennifer McCarthy, President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., Dean of Health Professions Susan Barnard, D.H.S. and Board of Trustees Chair E. Carter Corriston, formally unveiled the institution’s newest associate in applied science degree program, paramedic science, at an Oct. 7 ceremony.
“Coupled with the Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center scheduled to open in 2016,” Chair Corriston said, “the paramedic science program once again reflects the College’s dedication to workforce development and serving the needs of area residents.”
Using on-campus resources such as a simulated residential apartment, an emergency department receiving area and an ambulance optimized for classroom instruction, the program will educate current emergency medical technicians seeking to advance their knowledge and employment prospects as licensed paramedics. Off-campus clinical rotations at local hospitals provide a practice-based learning environment to prepare students for immediate entry into the workforce. The inaugural group of students began class Sept. 2 and will complete the program in one year, entering a job market projected by the U.S. Department of Labor to grow “much faster than the average for all occupations.”
As the College’s tenth offering in its region-leading Division of Health Professions, paramedic science represents the first degree program of any discipline available exclusively at Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands, located at 1280 Wall Street West.
Enhancing health professions programs – and the more than 1,000 students enrolled in them – remains a priority for Bergen officials. A $26 million state-of-the-art Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center will open at the Paramus main campus in 2016. The facility, which will house most of the College’s health professions programs, represents Bergen’s project as part of the 2012 voter-approved $750 Building our Future Bond Act. The initiative delivered state funds to colleges and universities for the construction of new academic facilities.
Additionally, the College recently learned it will lead the administration of a $15 million federal grant and consortium of partners to create a healthcare career pathways system that will train and place approximately 2,000 individuals in new jobs.
Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 16,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.
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