NATCHEZ &045; Co-Lin Natchez had students knocking down the door to take the classes they wanted, so they had no option but to oblige.

When classes start on Aug. 15 the community college branch will offer the licensed practical nurse course alongside the health care assistant course, something they’ve never been able to do before.

Co-Lin has offered both career programs in years past, but never simultaneously, and this year’s change required state board permission.

&uot;We had such a need in the community for healthcare personnel and LPNs,&uot; said Kaye Harris, associate dean of the Natchez Career-Technology program. &uot;So we asked to do both, and we are really excited about it.&uot;

The LPN program has been offered in Natchez for some time, and four years ago the school opened the health care assistant program. The school offered one program for two years and the other for the next two years.

This year, 15 students will take the LPN classes while 15 take the health care program. The LPN program lasts three semesters, fall, spring and summer and the assistant program is only one semester.

Harris said students will now be able to take both programs in back to back years, giving them a better taste of what’s out there.

&uot;The health care assistant program would be a stepping stone,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s a one semester program they can take and decide if the health field is really what they want.&uot;

The program prepares students to become assistant health care providers under the direction of a health care professional. Graduates would be eligible for employment as homemakers, certified nurse assistants, long-term care aides or home health aides.

Students who got a taste for the medical field and wanted to go further could enroll in the LPN program the next year.

LPNs can then go to Alcorn State University or another school to become registered nurses.

Harris said graduates of any of the programs had high chances of finding good employment right now.

&uot;There’s a need for (nurses and assistants) throughout the state and throughout the nation,&uot; she said. &uot;Baby boomers are becoming older, the nation is getting older and older.

&uot;The medical field is an excellent place to put your time into now.&uot;

With the promise of both programs in years to come, Co-Lin hired Ray Bradford to be a practical nursing instructor. Bradford currently lives in Natchez but has been teaching at another school in Louisiana.