Utica College addresses market need with “English for Healthcare” course

UTICA, N.Y. — It’s an entirely online course that Utica College says can help those who work in the health-care field — or plan to in the future.

The new “English for Healthcare” course will combine health-care related vocabulary, grammar, and communication skills into an “accelerated,” 15-module course, the school said.

The new class “places focus on relevant topics that reflect daily health-care interactions” including patient history, insurance, billing, public health, mental health, and other topics. The course was designed with input from health-care partners, clinicians, and faculty.

The course begins Oct. 26 and a student can complete it in eight weeks. Students can also choose to enroll in the 15-week program beginning on Jan. 18, 2021.

Elizabeth Nassar, director of academic business development at Utica College, said the college’s clinical partners in Florida have indicated that this course is their “greatest need.” 

Utica College in September 2018 opened a nursing site in Miramar, Florida, per the college’s website.

“We know of so many wonderful employees who want to help patients and move to other areas of the hospital, but they simply cannot, because their English skills need to be further developed. The pandemic has made the need for this course even more urgent,” Nassar contended in a statement.

The cost of the course is $900. If students earn admission into one of Utica College’s health-care programs after completing the course, the school will award them a $450 tuition credit. 

The announcement of the new course follows the college’s early-September announcement of the IDEAS (Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students) grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad. 

That funding seeks to aid students in diversifying their education within the health-care field.