THUNDER BAY — A new program at Confederation College may help alleviate a serious shortage of personal support workers in Thunder Bay and other communities.
The Accelerated PSW program, funded by the province at two dozen colleges around Ontario, will take six months to complete instead of the usual eight months.
Students pay no tuition fee, and are also eligible for support for expenses such as textbooks.
The course includes a paid work placement.
Applications are now being accepted, on a first-come, first-served basis, for intakes that start on May 10 and on June 14 across Confederation's nine campuses in Northwestern Ontario.
There are 20 spots available for each intake.
Shane Strickland, dean of Confederation's School of Health, says there's considerable demand for trained PSWs in the region and beyond.
"This opportunity not only creates additional PSW seats for prospective students, it also reduces barriers to the program by offering the financial support components," Strickland said in a statement.
According to the government, there's room for a total of 6,000 students in the accelerated program at colleges across the province.
After three months of coursework and experiential learning in a clinical setting, students will complete the final three months in paid onsite training in a long-term care home or in a home and community care environment.
Graduates will be cleared to work in long-term care and other health care settings by the fall of this year.
Rebecca Lowey graduated in 2019 from a compressed PSW program at Confederation's Rainy River District campus.
She described the experience as "very busy and a little stressful," but said the key to managing her studies was the support she received.
"We as classmates all worked together and helped each other out, and we had a very good support system with our teachers.," Lowey said.
She said the hard work paid off with a job offer she received right after graduation.
Lowey works at the Rainycrest nursing home in Fort Frances.
The province is also offering students already enrolled in the regular PSW program that started in the winter semester the chance to receive a $2,000 scholarship and a paid work placement.
