Paul D. Camp Community College recently received funding from the Birdsong Trust Fund to offer a new medical program at the City of Suffolk Workforce Development Center this fall.

PDCCC made the request for start-up funding for its Fast Track Healthcare Program in November 2017. The program will allow students to receive certifications to be a clinical medical assistant, phlebotomy technician and EKG technician.

The Birdsong Trust Fund provided PDCCC with $24,000 for start-up costs.

“With the funding, we are able to completely outfit a new lab at the Suffolk Workforce Development Center,” said Director of Workforce Development Angela Lawhorne. “If it wasn’t for the Birdsong Trust, we wouldn’t have the program in Suffolk. It’s a major support for the area.”

The next session of the fast-track program runs from Aug. 6 to Dec. 19, and the program will last for a total of 486 hours. Students will earn all three certifications and perform externships with Lakeview Medical Center.

“It’s the first bundled program, and we try to meet a need in the area with not just hospital but medical facilities,” Lawhorne said.

To make sure students are getting the lab time and instructor attention they need, there are only 15 slots every time they offer the program.

“We also don’t want to saturate the market, so we don’t want to have too many students,” Lawhorne said.

Having only 15 slots makes the program competitive, and prospective students have to take a career readiness test, pass a background check and drug screen and submit three letters of recommendation.

“We also see how committed they are to the program, because there are only so many days you can miss,” Lawhorne said. “Since it’s a fast-track program, it is a four-day-a-week program.”

They first rolled out the fast track medical program in Franklin, and it had its first semester started in January. They will continue to have the programs rotating at both locations — Franklin will be held in the spring, and Suffolk’s class will be held in the fall.

The program will cost $4,500. If all certifications were taken separately at other institutions, the average cost would be $7,300, according to Lawhorne. This is due to how quickly the programs are completed, and there is only one instructor that is certified in all three areas.

Textbooks, uniforms, credential exam costs and other needs for the classroom are included in the cost.

Now that the program has funding, PDCCC will be holding information sessions for prospective students. Both information sessions will be at the Suffolk Workforce Development Center, 157 N. Main St., and the first session will be at 1 p.m. May 4. The second session will be at 5 p.m. May 31.

More information can be found on the website, www.pdc.edu/workforce-development, or by calling 569-6050.