By LORRAINE AGNEW
Courier-Post Staff

One way to help solve the shortage of health-care professionals, experts say, is for schools to find ways to attract more students into their programs.

While several schools take the route of advertising and sending representatives to college career fairs, others use their own kinds of incentives such as giving gift certificates.

But what attracts students to the field in the first place?

"Helping others is something that is very satisfying," said Dr. Regina Mastrangelo, dean of the Helene Fuld School of Nursing in Camden County, whose school is on the Camden County College campus in Blackwood.

And when it comes to recruiting students, Mastrangelo noted, "Most people come to the school through word of mouth and the reputation of our school."

However, much of the school's recruitment effort comes in the way of advertising in newspapers and other publications such as nursing and student magazines. It also advertises in school counselor magazines where counselors

are encouraged to speak to their students about a career in the medical field.

According to Mastrangelo, the majority of the students who enroll at Helene Fuld are older.

"The recent high school graduate is not the norm. We'd like to see more of them," she said.

To attract more new high school graduates, recruiters "go to college career fairs, talk to the students, and give them our brochures and catalogs," said Pat McCarthy, a recruiter at Helene Fuld.

"And we often invite a group (of students) who filled out applications to the school and basically answer their questions," she added.

McCarthy then interviews the applicants. "We ask them what thoughts they have about coming into nursing and what led them."

Their characteristics, as shown by their answers, give her a clue as to what they would be best suited for.

"I would then refer them to the nursing coordinator at Camden County College," said McCarthy.

There are different levels of the nursing profession that opens the field to more people. For instance, aside from the three-year nursing program, there is a new short-term program for a multi-skilled technician. The technician is new in the health-care network.

In one semester, the student will complete training and obtain a certificate that will allow him or her to assist a nurse in direct patient care, draw blood, do electrocardiogram testing and other related jobs.

At the Omega Institute in Pennsauken, Lisa Daniels, manager of public relations, also assumes the roll of recruiter. As such, she also handles the advertising and community relations.

Omega Institute is an allied health training school with a wide variety of courses.

"We offer training as medical assistants, billers and coders, therapeutic massager, which is very popular these days, medical administrative assistant and multi-skilled technicians," Daniels said. Billers and coders are her highest placements, she noted.

"What we do is advertise on television and in newspapers, ads and inserts. We get some students through referral," said Daniels.

The institute has an incentive program that includes gift certificates for services such as a session at the massage clinic.

Daniels gives tours to high school students and clubs that show an interest in the medical field. In addition, she goes to high school career fairs and gives classroom presentations.

"They (teen-agers) are great. They have a lot of energy," she said.

"The training program is a great foundation for those who aspire to be doctors or nurses," Daniels noted. The program gives students the hands-on experience by going on field trips to hospitals and nursing homes, anywhere they can get exposure to health care. They also have outreach programs where students are encouraged to attend charity events.

Massage therapy students are planning to attend a golf outing and offer chair massages with all proceeds going to charity.

Omega is an accredited school, said Daniels, and class sizes are small in order to work with the students one-on-one. Instructors are nurses who have taught and practiced, and some now practice, in the field.

"Upon graduation, students receive a diploma at a graduation ceremony. We try to make it as close to a college program as possible. We try to make it fun," said Daniels.