BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie toured St. Luke\u2019s training facilities in Bethlehem, where they observed programs designed to prepare future nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers through hands-on learning and advanced technology.<\/p>\n
Among those benefiting from the training pipeline is Taj Singh, a graduate of the Temple\/St. Luke\u2019s School of Medicine who is now in his first year of an internal medicine residency. Singh said his desire to become a physician was strengthened by the opportunity to serve the community where he grew up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I always wanted to go to medical school, but I think that really made me more and more passionate about it, caring for my community there,\u201d Singh said. \u201cAnd I thought, what better place to do that than here? Growing up in this community, getting to care for patients here.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the tour, Sonderling praised St. Luke\u2019s approach to workforce development, citing its investment in technology and community-based training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis workforce training with the hands-on tools, with advanced technology, with advanced equipment, but really the passion and dedication of the staff at St. Luke\u2019s to give their time back to their local community to help recruit workers,\u201d Sonderling said.<\/p>\n
The visit included demonstrations of highly realistic patient simulators that allow students to practice responding to real-world medical scenarios.<\/p>\n
The group also visited a CPR training lab, where students learn life-saving skills through interactive exercises and competitions.<\/p>\n
Another stop highlighted the use of 3D-printing technology to create detailed anatomical models that help students simulate medical procedures before working with patients.<\/p>\n
Sonderling said the programs could serve as a model for healthcare providers nationwide as the industry continues to face workforce shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a great model for us at the Department of Labor to talk about around the country as other healthcare providers are really struggling for workers and looking for innovative ways to scale their workforce,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to St. Luke\u2019s, the network is home to the Lehigh Valley\u2019s only four-year medical school campus, allowing students to complete their medical education locally before pursuing residency and fellowship opportunities close to home.<\/p>\n
For Singh, the continued investment in medical education reinforces the impact the institution is having on the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel really good about what we\u2019re doing here at St. Luke\u2019s and especially with the school of medicine getting out in the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As he continues his residency training, Singh is working toward his long-term goal of becoming a cardiologist and providing specialized care to patients in the community he calls home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie toured St. Luke\u2019s training…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[214,153,155,154,1391],"class_list":["post-217072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}