Hamilton Health Sciences, Mohawk prepare students for fast-changing healthcare sector

Mohawk College has provided a pathway to employment in Hamilton’s healthcare landscape for decades and students will soon have even more opportunities with the announcement of Hamilton Health Sciences as a Future Ready Premium Employer.

The Future Ready Premium Program is a new initiative designed to more actively engage industry and community partners in the training of job-ready college graduates. This strategic program, involving a select group of industry partners, includes exclusive projects to enhance the learning experience for students while helping to address the employment priorities of the companies involved.

With more than 350 Mohawk graduates on staff and hundreds of co-op and student placements every year, HHS works closely with Mohawk to create a skilled, bright, job-ready workforce to serve the current and future healthcare needs of our community. The pathway from student to HHS employee has been well established.

Michelle Stevenson ’04 did her hospital placement at McMaster Children’s Hospital (part of the Hamilton Health Sciences network) as a way to gain hands-on experience. Her placement turned out to be quite relevant to the work she does now as a Senior Pharmacy Technician, back at McMaster Children’s Hospital, and she is grateful to have had the real-world work experience.

“I accelerated my career by making connections at my placement,” she observes.

Back in the college training environment, HHS has helped to create an authentic hospital setting for Mohawk students through the provision of training equipment. This allows students to use equipment in their studies that they will likely find in the field of their chosen occupation.

In addition, HHS is involved in a number of applied research and industry projects with Mohawk, as well as contributing representatives for related Mohawk Program Advisory Committees.

Together, Mohawk and HHS are focused on training the workforce of the future. With diverse opportunities in clinical and non-clinical settings, they support Nurses, Pharmacy Technicians, Personal Support Workers, Business Analysts, IT professionals and a variety of other technical and administrative healthcare professionals. This partnership offers people the chance to train, work and live in Hamilton and be part of the transforming field of healthcare.

As a Future Ready Premium Employer, the collaboration between HHS and Mohawk is bound to grow even stronger and the pathway from student to healthcare worker may soon look more like a highway to success for everyone involved.

The 10 Future Ready Premium Employers in the first wave of this program include: ArcelorMittal Dofasco, City of Hamilton, Gerrie Electric, Hamilton Health Sciences, IBM, KF Aerospace, L3HARRIS, Stelco, Thrive Group and Walters Inc. New employers will be added to the program on an annual basis.