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Soldiers in Iraq get college credit from RCCC
Contributed photo
Will Cannon, an Army medic from Concord currently serving in Iraq, with a group of Iraqi children.
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Published: November 10, 2009
CONCORD - More than 20 soldiers from North Carolina are taking classes right now, thousands of miles from campus, and earning credits through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College's paramedic hybrid distance education program.
The past and current paramedic programs have been delivered through a partnership between the college and Cabarrus County Emergency Medical Services since 1990.
The new hybrid distance education program, which allows students to receive class information online, is providing an alternative to the traditional paramedic training program for a military cohort, the college said.
There are 23 students enrolled in the new hybrid program and 11 who are actively engaged. Those enrolled are located at three bases in Iraq, while two are in the U.S. as a control group.
Everyone enrolled in the overall program earns the same amount of credits and clinical hours, but their experiences are different, said Will Cannon, a paramedic with Cabarrus County EMS and a U.S. Army combat medic deployed in Iraq, during an Internet phone interview. Cannon is the instructor for the program in Iraq.
"The main difference is all participants (in Iraq) are actively engaged as medics," Cannon said. "We have immediate gratification. There's a good chance of using (a lesson the next day)."
But there have also been challenges to the hybrid program, especially since most of the students are thousands of miles from campus. One of those challenges is that the students in Iraq and Cannon have missions everyday, all at different times, making it difficult to have the same class meeting time each week.
"There's no such thing as a typical day or week," Cannon said. "You've got to be adaptable."
Cannon said he finds times when most of the students will be available to meet for class and added that the majority of the material is online. For the hybrid military program, there are 158 hours in the classroom and 524 online hours. The traditional program has 682 hours in the classroom.
Having so many online hours for the hybrid model can be challenging for those who are in Iraq, since access to the Internet is limited and downloads can be slow, Cannon said. As a way to overcome that challenge, computer files have been broken down into smaller ones and jump drives are used to store information.
Both versions of the paramedic program have 500 clinical hours. For those who are deployed, some of the clinical hours will be in Iraq, but because they are serving a limited group of people there, they will have the majority of clinical hours when they return to the U.S.
After their return, those soldiers can continue their work in the classroom and clinical setting to prepare for state testing. If they are successful, they will earn certification as a paramedic.
"The main thrust is the paramedic program will not be altered," Cannon said. "The students here will receive an identical education. (We're) just using flexible, progressive methods."
While there have been several challenges, Cannon said none have been deemed insurmountable, thanks to the work of everyone involved, including the college and Maj. Alan Thompson, the Cabarrus EMS assistant director and course coordinator and instructor for the paramedic programs.
Cannon also said there have been many benefits from this hybrid program. It allows those in the Army to maintain their required medical certification and be eligible for continuing education credits.
"We hope to utilize it as a retention tool and recruitment tool and as a message for people to enhance their careers," Cannon said.
The community college also reaps the benefits, said Jeanie Moore, vice president for continuing education at RCCC.
"It gives us an opportunity to look at the way we deliver instruction in a different way," Moore said. "There may be other groups that benefit from this same type of model."
After this semester ends, Moore said the college will do an assessment of the hybrid program to determine its future.
"The results will be when this group gets back (to the U.S.)," Moore said. "All indicators say this is the right thing."
• Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
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