BY XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY & HANNAH JOHNSON
One more thing
Diving deeper
Collin College is in a position to deliver the education that supports industry and ensures the success of the region, Matkin said. The $71.8 million Frisco health sciences center, which is set to open in January 2027, will help with expanding programs already o ered at Collin College and will be the future home to in-development programs. The center was intentionally designed to support innovative learning through hands-on clinical spaces and simulation technology, Matkin said. The center will have learning spaces dedicated to new radiology and imaging programs. Potential programs being considered include Radiologic Technology, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Cardiovascular Technology, and Medical Laboratory Technician.
Plano ISD students have an even earlier route into the medical eld with the district’s Health Sciences Academy, a partnership with Collin College that o ers dual-credit courses and clinical placements for high school students. “They can go straight into the workforce, go to a two-year school, a four-year school and go on to medical school,” said Kimberly Chandler, PISD health science career and technical education coordinator. The program o ers seven di erent tracks, including four that allow students to graduate high school with a Collin College certi cate. The district and Collin College partner with local hospitals to make sure the program is meeting workforce needs. Plano ISD’s next newest health care program will be radiology tech due to feedback during a recent roundtable discussion with local hospitals. “We need to hear what our workforce partners need, and we need to make sure that we are lling
PISD partners with Collin College to provide students hands on experience in the health care eld.
COURTESY PLANO ISD
that pipeline,” Chandler said. PISD CTE Coordinator Karen Buechman added that the opportunity for “practical experience with patients” puts PISD Health Sciences Academy students ahead when applying for medical school. “You can’t volunteer and get that same experi- ence,” Buechman said. “They don’t let you touch patients; they let you deliver owers. [The Health Sciences Academy] is a very di erent experience where you actually are doing labs on patients. ... With that early exposure, the students leave with a better understanding of what they want to do.”
Changing t
Inspired and hired
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PLANO SOUTH EDITION
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