Session Focus: So you want to build an apprenticeship program – now what?

At Rush University Medical Center, building a diverse talent pipeline through apprenticeships has been a key priority. However, as Rukiya Curvey Johnson highlighted, the journey comes with its challenges: "So really trying to understand what are some of the barriers that students might have for sort of completing and finishing their classes we try to make sure that we're addressing those."

Rush has implemented three core apprenticeship programs - medical assistant, certified nursing assistant, and youth IT - to upskill workers for high-demand healthcare roles. Their efforts provide insights into proactively breaking down barriers:

• Providing wraparound supports like transportation, childcare assistance, and academic tutoring to facilitate student success.
• Prioritising diversity by tracking and ensuring representation of Black, Latino, low socioeconomic, and local community participants.
• Lowering employment requirements, enhancing retention efforts, increasing scheduling flexibility, and partnering with organizations to strengthen programming.

From dedicated staff to mental health resources to advocating for more accessible prerequisites, Rush's multi-faceted approach tackles equity issues head-on. Their future focuses include workforce collaboration, securing skilled instructors, and persistently breaking down accessibility barriers.

As a model for the future of equitable workforce development, Rush demonstrates that understanding and proactively alleviating student barriers is critical for driving apprenticeship completion and diversity.