Education is a high priority in the state of Arizona, especially in the Phoenix Metro area. There are innovative special programs in the public schools, fine private schools, an extensive community college system as well as four-year colleges.

In addition, vocational training is geared toward the actual needs of employers in Arizona’s Valley.

One school example East Valley Institute of Technology. What is EVIT?

EVIT is a public, joint technical education district (JTED) that serves students from ten East Valley school districts. Students from Apache Junction, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Tempe, Higley and J.O. Combs spend a half-day at EVIT in a technological program and the other half-day at their home high school. All 10th, 11th and 12th grade students can attend tuition-free, if they have met the class prerequisites. Enrollment is encouraged in 11th and 12th grades. 10th graders may attend with home school counselor approval. Free busing is provided to and from EVIT by the student’s home school district for most programs.

High-Tech Institute Inc. in central Phoenix has added a veterinary technology program to the curriculum.
About 50 students are enrolled in their veterinary technology program. Students earn an associate’s degree in veterinary technology after finishing the program, and will be ready to take the national certification exam. Classes are 3 1/2-hour sessions, five days a week. The veterinary technology program is housed in a facility that has the feel of a small animal clinic or hospital. It’s equipped with a reception desk, two examination rooms, a radiology room, a surgery prep room, a surgery suite and a teaching lab.

By the time students complete their training, they are ready to perform basic physical exams, process X-rays or set intravenous catheters. Pet dental hygiene treatments are in high demand, and students receive training in this area, too. Four support staff members are typically needed to help a veterinarian treat an animal. Veterinary technicians find employment at zoos, wildlife facilities and animal shelters or train pets for businesses.  By Betty Reid, the Arizona Republic

UA medical school opening drew crowd in Phoenix

In collaboration with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona College of Medicine is opening its new facility in downtown Phoenix.

Housed in the renovated historic Phoenix Union High School building, built for $150,000 in bond money in 1910, the new medical school will graduate as many as 150 new physicians each year when fully developed. UA’s Tucson campus graduates 110 medical students each year. Judy Bernas, associate vice president of UA, said the school will start with a small class of 24 next year and grow to 150 students.

J. Bernas said the collaboration between ASU and UA is creating a lot of national interest. Only one medical school has been built in the United States within the past 30 years, she said. “There’s no model,” she said. “But what’s happening is this model we’re creating here is that six other states are looking at it to see if they can do what we’re doing in Arizona.”

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“We currently have eight ASU faculty who are officially appointed as joint faculty with the College of Medicine, and four more will be appointed within the next couple of weeks for a total of 12 people,” Young said. “We are going to work collaboratively to make sure this expansion of the College of Medicine happens. There are challenges, but we’re going to move forward to get this thing done and up and running and expand to 150 students as soon as we can.”

Since 1992, UA College of Medicine has operated a regional campus in Phoenix, where 40 percent of third and fourth-year medical students complete their studies in partnership with Valley hospitals. By August 2004, the Arizona Board of Regents approved an agreement to expand the operations, in collaboration with ASU, to a four-year program.

The medical school is on the grounds of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which also houses the Translational Genomics Research Institute, International Genomics Consortium, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and offices for St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center’s Barrow Neurological Institute. It is the future site of the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative, which is under construction, the ASU Department of Biomedical Informatics and a UA College of Pharmacy.

According to a study by Tripp Umbach Healthcare Consulting, the Phoenix Biomedical Campus could rank among the state’s leading economic engines by 2025, generating as much as $2.1 billion each year and providing employment for up to 24,000 Arizonans.

For more: www.arizona.edu, www.asu.edu

By Angela Gonzales, The Business Journal