New software allows students to earn dispatcher certification
CISMAA students also recently visited Montefiore Medical Center
In a new collaboration this year at the Center for Career Services, students enrolled in CISMAA and Security, Law and Policing have an opportunity to earn dispatcher certification prior to graduation.
The opportunity became a reality after the school purchased NECI 9-1-1 software and made it available to students, who can receive self-paced training on emergency communications before sitting for the certification test later this spring.
“Every year we work to collaborate with another class,” Poniatowski said. “This year, we are running this program as a pilot program. Hopefully in the future we are able to expand it.”
Students learn through online software, which they can access between other lessons.
CISMAA, which stands for Computer Information Systems/Medical Administrative Assistant, allows students to learn various skills related to working as a medical administrative assistant. Their classroom is operated like an office, with front desk staff, central phone and sign-in sheet. They learn how to take and change appointments, make photo identification, take a patient’s vital signs and more.
The dispatch training is an addition to that curriculum. Poniatowski said juniors who are currently enrolled in the course may have an opportunity to expand their training to more specific areas of dispatching.
In the short term, both the dispatch certification and Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) certification the students work toward will allow them to earn employment in those roles immediately upon graduation.
Their real-life training includes real-life experience as well. Recently, the CISMAA classes visited the Einstein Campus of the Montefiore Medical Center, located in the Bronx. They had an opportunity to observe X-ray and MRI technicians and learned more about nuclear medicine. They were also given an opportunity to ask questions of the employees.
“They know they want to help people through the health care industry but don’t have a full view of how they can do that,” Poniatowski said. “This lets them learn that there’s another side to medicine.”
Senior Nikolas Carsin, a student at New Rochelle High School, pointed to the work of an MRI technician as something that intrigued him. “I found out there was a lot more to the job than I had known before,” he said.
Carsin said anatomy specifically and science in general are fields of study he finds appealing. The field trip showed him several areas of medicine where those interests intersected with medical-related professions beyond being a doctor or a nurse.
“Now I can try and explore different parts of health care,” he said. “When I saw the people working together, you can see that they’re human and that they really make an impact. I thought it was a great experience and a really cool trip.”
