News Releases @ TCC

Media Contact: Laurie White, Chief Communications Officer

757-822-1085, LWhite@tcc.edu

TCC to Teach Resuscitative Medicine Practices to Philippine Physicians

International outreach benefits students

NORFOLK, Va.   – (Nov. 4, 2003) – Further extending the region’s reach to far corners of the world, Tidewater Community College welcomes Philippine physicians as they take part in its renowned Emergency Medical Technology program. The doctors are studying at TCC to prepare to teach and apply the principles and practices of Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advance Life Support in their country.

TCC’s EMT program, part of the Health Sciences Division, prepares EMTs and paramedics for certification or associate degree. One of only three community college programs in the state, the program has extended its services to nations desperate for EMT professionals. A majority of paramedics practicing in the Hampton Roads region and beyond are TCC alumni.

From Morocco to the Philippines, doctors have called upon TCC’s EMT educators to teach them emergency healthcare procedures. “This is a natural fit for our mission, educating a community in crucial areas,” says Tom Calogrides Jr., an associate professor whose EMT educational outreach abroad has won him awards and accolades.

“Thanks to the opportunities our program has had to go to Third World nations like Morocco and the Philippines, our own students benefit from the international experience,” explains Calogrides, who also serves as Life Support Training Council chairman for Operation Smile International, the group funding this program.

Operation Smile is a private, not-for-profit volunteer medical services organization providing reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries and the United States. It also offers education and training around the world to health-care professionals to achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Working with Operation Smile is another way for community college students to learn their profession within a global approach.

MEDIA NOTE:   To interview Tom Calogrides, TCC EMT students and talk with the Philippine doctors while they learn at TCC, contact Laurie White at 822-1085.

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Tidewater Community College is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 34,000 students annually. The 37th largest in the nation's 1,600 community-college network, TCC ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded in 1958 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-three percent of the region's residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC.

For more information, visit www.tcc.edu.

Media Contact: Laurie White, Chief Communications Officer
757-822-1085, LWhite@tcc.edu