New Push to Educate Allied Health Professionals

A new Center for Allied Health Education has been founded to address the national shortage of allied health professionals. Cynthia Deyling, M.D., chair of Regional Operations, has been named the executive director of the Center for Allied Health Education. Roy Anderson serves as the director of Allied Health Educational Partnerships. There are more than 80 allied health professions, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, respiratory therapy, medical laboratory technology, pharmacy, and surgical, radiologic and cardiovascular technology. The mission of the Center for Allied Health is to ensure that all Cleveland Clinic allied health programs educate students to excel in academic achievement and become providers of the best care to patients. Its goal is to coordinate the training of all allied health professionals across the Cleveland Clinic in collaboration with academic partners to meet the workforce needs of system hospitals.

The Center has established an Allied Health Education website, an Allied Health Higher Education Advisory Committee, and is currently working to create a standard on-boarding and orientation process for allied health students training at Cleveland Clinic hospitals. Additionally, the Center is collaborating with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, and John Carroll University on a program which has allied health professionals teach science and math concepts to 6th graders.