First Two Stockton Students to Take Advantage of Dual Degree Program

A year after launching its Dual Degree Medical Technology Program with the University of Delaware, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey is sending its first group to the Newark-based college, and AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center is offering a fellowship for the program for the first time.

The program targets biology students at Stockton who are seeking a job as a medical lab technologist. Students spend three years at Stockton, followed by two years at Delaware, and walk away from the experience with biology and med tech bachelor’s degrees.

Those pursuing a fellowship for the program are then guaranteed a job as a medical lab technologist at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center for two years.

The fellowship is for $15,000 over two years, which breaks down to $7,500 a year.

“This field is a tough one for recruitment,” Assistant Vice President of Clinical Services at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Jim Kilmer said. “It offers people here a chance to get a degree and then we offer them employment.”

The first group taking advantage of the program is a group of two. One isn’t taking advantage of the fellowship, but the other is the first candidate for the program. Both have already completed three years at Stockton.

The candidate will undergo an interview process and AtlantiCare hopes to offer the yet-to-be-named fellowship next month, according to Kilmer.

“We hope to have two students a year,” Kilmer said. “We’re interested in the student’s goals, long-term plans and interest in the field.”

Karen York, an associate professor of biology at Stockton, said Delaware will take up to 10 total students from Stockton for this program in a given year.

“It’s a program that’s just getting started,” York said.

The job at AtlantiCare entails running different blood tests and following doctor’s orders.

“It’s highly analytical,” Kilmer said.

It’s also a difficult job for employers in Southern New Jersey to recruit for. No colleges in southern New Jersey offer the med tech program, so many potential students interested in the career would attend schools in the northern part of the state, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Those students would then generally remain in the areas in which they attended school for employment.

“Before this program, hospitals had to recruit in North Jersey, Philly or Delaware. There was no way to get training in South Jersey,” York said.

The position offers between $26 and $40 an hour, depending on the experience of the employee.

“AtlantiCare had eight job openings for that position this year,” York said. “This is an excellent option.”