The Central Texas Healthcare Partnership is solving local healthcare shortages by utilizing earn and learn opportunities such as apprenticeships. One occupational shortage that our industry leaders identified was Certified Medial Assistant (CMA).
Just a few years ago, the shortage of Certified Medical Assistants was substantial in the Austin metro area. Employers reported having over 50 job openings at any given time. This shortage was compounded by the fact that local training providers were not graduating enough students to fill the occupation shortage. This led to employers competing over candidates and shortages for all regional healthcare providers.
In 2019, the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership partnered with Austin Community College and Innovative Workforce Projects to create national accredited Certified Medical Assistant registered the apprenticeships with the Department of Labor, and started offering apprenticeships to local residents.
Through this program, we can:
- Hire individuals with no prior healthcare experience and provide paid on-the-job training as Certified Medical Assistants.
- Upskill current employees who were ready to advance their careers and add additional certification and responsibilities to retain current staff.
- Add additional Certified Medical Assistants to our community to decrease shortages and reduce job openings.
Based on employer input and request for a Medical Assistant talent pipeline, we began leveraging our partnerships with Austin Community College and Innovative Workforce Projects that were vital to the success of the apprenticeships.
Once we built the apprenticeship framework with our partners, we introduced local employers to the benefits of the apprenticeship model for this non-traditional industry. Four employers signed on to implement the CMA Apprenticeship program: Ascension Seton, Austin Region Clinic, Baylor Scott & White Health, and CommUnityCare.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area also secured and leveraged multiple grants awarded to us by the Texas Workforce Commission that were imperative to fund and grow these apprenticeship programs.
The healthcare industry has enrolled and hired 334 healthcare apprentices as Medical Assistants from September 2019 through December 2024. Enrollment for the CMA apprenticeship has grown significantly, with the largest increase occurring in 2022, when participation surged by 311% compared to the previous year.
Our healthcare providers have hired on average 5 CMA apprentices per month for the past 5 years thanks to this new recruitment and training strategy.
“The apprenticeship allows for clinics to support and develop community members into Certified Medical Assistants, thus improving the employment pathway and the pipeline from underserved populations into the Ascension network,” Yesenia Renzi, RN Program Coordinator Ascension Seton, said. “The apprenticeship is helping stabilize the CMA workforce and is producing associates functioning at Ascension Gold Standards which are now highly sought by managers across Ascension clinics.”
Workforce Solutions Capital Area and our Central Texas Healthcare Partnership continues to support the growth of healthcare apprenticeships to fill the workforce needs in this critical industry.
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