Oakview Terrace

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2017/01/18) */
Cardinal Tech provides cardiac ultrasound education including months of didactic and lab learning, and requires an additional hrs of clinical time, a portion of which is required at an extern siteCardinal Tech does not guarantee extern
sites, although we do assist as much as possible with connecting our students to a siteThese sites are completely separate entities - they are physician offices, clinics, or hospitals that volunteer to allow students to come and observe their practices, policies and procedures
There was a gap between this student's class/lab section and externship section as he wished to wait for one of our newest externship sitesThe average time frame to finish these additional clinical hours is months, but that time frame depends on how often the student is able to attendThose that are able to go 4-days a week will obviously finish faster than those going 1-days per weekThis particular student went days per week
This student and his classmates were told by the hospital how well prepared they were, more so than other students they had worked with, and we were told the exact same thing by hospitalWe met with the hospital staff every weeks, spoke with management, as well as the studentsWe were informed that they were doing a great job every time we spoke to the hospital employees and their managersOur students told us they were being told the same thing as wellWe know what a wonderful job our students did throughout the program, and they were continually praised by the hospital staffThis student stopped communicating with us at the end of Oct and did not complete his final check offs with us in order to graduate from the programWe have reached out repeatedly without responseUnfortunately for this student, we have had a few hospital recruiters contact us in the meantime, asking us for graduate referrals for open job positionsBecause this student hasn't completed everything required for graduation, we weren't able to recommend him
In late Nov we were informed that a disgruntled employee at the hospital ended up saying some extremely rude and inappropriate things to this student after the externship was over at the hospitalThis has no bearing to us as to their actual competency, since the hospital told us on a regular basis throughout their time that they were doing a wonderful jobWe chalk this up to a rude employee trying to keep potential competition at bayThis employee of the hospital is defaming these students without grounds, and we are actually currently looking into this matter furtherWe understand that this must have been very upsetting to hear, but it doesn't make logical sense to believe this statement to be trueThis exact same staff told the students, and us, repeatedly for months what a wonderful job they were doingWe believe this to be an effort by staff to discourage our students from pursuing positions, as they are potential competition for their own jobs at the hospitalIt's very unfortunate that they acted this way, but again this in no way altered our view of our students and what a wonderful job they did during their time in our programWe have no control over how the staff behaves at another institutionAll we have control over is how we educate our students, and all our students have control over is how much effort they put in to be successfulIt is obvious from the months of praise that both Cardinal Tech and our students did exactly that
A few things to note about Cardinal Tech and our Program:
- Our main instructor and Program Director trained at Northwestern, among other institutions, and has worked in ultrasound education for over years
- One of our co-founders is partner in a company that has been providing ultrasound services to physicians throughout Indiana and nationwide through their affiliates for yearsThis company employs ultrasound technologists, the very type of techs we are training at Cardinal Tech
- We utilize simulator training that is also used by top institutions including Stanford, Loyola, and Harvard Medical SchoolIt has shown to increase basic scanning procedures by 121%, window interpretation by 133%, window identification by 474%, and diagnostic interpretation by 535%This is very expensive for us to offer, but we are committed to having the best educational opportunities for our students
- We have had numerous physicians and seasoned ultrasound technologists review not only our program, but our student's imaging and we always have exceptional reviews by these individuals
As is detailed here, we are committed to providing an exceptional education experienceWe have reviews from hospitals that have worked with our students, outlining the success at their hospitalsWe have had students hand picked out of their externships for open positions at hospitals
This student has a few minor items left to be able to graduate - a simple check off and skills assessment in our lab and he will be done and ready for graduationWe have reached out many times in an effort to get this finalized, with no responseWe always have, and continue to have our doors open to work with our students to ensure that they are well prepared, and if we have a student that needs any type of additional assistance or has questions, we are always happy to provide thatBut, the student has to be responsive for us to be able to assist and that has not been the case with this studentIf you have any questions or would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact me directlyReferences from Technologists and Hospital site available upon request