How to make a nuclear medicine technology bachelor's program more attractive

Objectives To implement an entry level bachelors program in nuclear medicine technology that is competitive with 2 year associate degree program and to attract second career students who have limited time to dedicate to full time education.

Methods In 2003 the faculty and administration of the department of radiologic sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) was facing a dilemma; low enrollment in the Bachelors of Science programs with majors in Nuclear Medicine Technology (NMT), Radiation Therapy and Radiography. In response the college introduced created a 32 month accelerated bachelors program for each major. In the accelerated format, students would attend classes over the same number of semesters, but all year round. So instead of doing fall and spring and then taking summers off they would attend classes in the summer for the first and second years of the program and for the final year they would graduate at the end of spring semester. In the last year the authors have reviewed the outcome data of the last eight years since the new format was introduced.

Results Enrollments in the NMT program have increased from an average 7 students per year prior to 2003 to an average of 13 per year in the last 8 years. Board pass rates have improved from 90% to 95%. Student retention has decreased from 85% per year to 80%. Students who received grades below a C in Algebra and Trigonometry and Anatomy and Physiology I in the first year had a high likelihood of dropping out.

Conclusions The introduction of an accelerated format allows students to finish a bachelor degree in 32 months rather than the usual 44 months. Introducing this accelerated format has increased enrollments in the NMT program. The poor retention data has led to some changes in the curriculum.

Research Support Database of student outcome