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Health Sciences Programs (General Procedures)

Associate Degree and Diploma Health Science Programs (Clinical Laboratory Technology, Dental Hygiene, Pharmacy Technology-Degree, Radiologic Technology, Registered Nursing, Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technology-Diploma, Practical Nursing and Surgical Technology)

Applicants to West Georgia Technical College diploma and degree Health Sciences programs must complete a competitive selection process prior to admission to the program.

Associate Degree Health Sciences and Nursing Programs

Students who apply to a degree level Health Sciences or Nursing program are initially accepted/admitted into the Healthcare Professional certificate. Students may choose to enroll in a different primary program, but they must request a change of major. Based on the requirements of the primary program, and the requirements of their intended degree program, students will be placed as provisional or regular admission status.  Students will take general core courses and health science core courses common to both the primary program and the intended degree program. Students may be eligible to receive financial aid based on the type of aid available for the primary program. To determine which courses are required and may be eligible for financial aid while enrolled in the primary program, students should compare the academic requirements of both programs as listed in this catalog, For additional assistance, contact the Student Advising Center.

Diploma Health Sciences and Nursing Programs

Students who apply to a diploma level Health Science program are initially accepted to the Healthcare Assistant certificate.  Based on the requirements of the primary program, and the requirements of their intended diploma, students will be placed as provisional or regular admission status. Students will take general core and health science core courses common to both the primary program and the intended diploma program. Students enrolled in the Healthcare Assistant certificate may be eligible to receive financial aid based on the type of aid available for the current program. To determine which courses are required and may be eligible for financial aid while enrolled in their primary program, students should compare the academic requirements of both programs as listed in this catalog, For additional assistance, contact the Student Advising Center.

Competitive Selection Process

Applicant Requirements

Each program has a competitive selection deadline. Please refer to the program information in the Academic Programs section of the catalog for specific application deadlines.

The following steps must be completed by the competitive selection deadline.

1. Non-Georgia residents will be considered in the competitive selection process on a space available basis, and will not be included if enough qualified applicants who are residents of the State apply. Please refer to the In-State Resident section of this catalog for more information regarding residency status.
2. The student may enter the selection process for only one program of study, and one campus at a time.
3. Some programs have a single competitive selection deadline to admit a class for more than one campus. In this case, the student must select one campus and will be included in the selection for that campus only.
4. The student must be in good academic standing with the College.
5. Each program requires that identified courses be completed by the competitive selection deadline. All required courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C. Please refer to the program information in the Academic Programs section of the Catalog for the courses that are required to enter the selection for a specific program.
6. In addition to earning a minimum grade of C in each required course, an overall GPA of 3.0 must be earned in the required courses for the Clinical Laboratory Technology, Dental Hygiene, Pharmacy Technology-Degree, Radiologic Technology, ADN Nursing, and Practical Nursing programs. An overall GPA of 2.5 must be earned in the required courses for the Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technology-Diploma, and Surgical Technology programs. The GPA will be calculated according to the current catalog course information. 
7. The following specific technical, science, and Health Science courses must be completed within seven years of the program start date, if required for the selection process.

ALHS 1040
ALHS 1060
ALHS 1090
ALHS 1011
BIOL 2113 & BIOL 2113L
BIOL 2114 & BIOL 2114L
BIOL 2117, BIOL 2117L
CHEM 1211 & CHEM 1211L
CHEM 1212 & CHEM 1212L
CHEM 1151 & CHEM 1151L
CHEM 1152 & CHEM 1152L

1. All transcripts reflecting grades earned at other colleges must be received by the admissions office prior to the selection deadline.
2. Students in all competitive programs except Clinical Laboratory must hold a current CPR Certification by the American Heart Association for Healthcare Providers. This certificate must remain current through the duration of the program. Online CPR certification or recertification will not be accepted.
3. Applicants to the Dental Hygiene, Pharmacy Technology-Degree, and Radiologic Technology programs must earn a minimum raw score of 200 on the Psychological Service Bureau (PSB) Health Occupations Aptitude Examination. The raw score total includes Academic Aptitude – Total, Spelling, Reading Comprehension, Information in the Natural Sciences and Vocational Adjustment Index. Exam must be completed within five years of the program start date.
4. Applicants to the Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technology-Diploma, Practical Nursing and Surgical Technology programs must earn a minimum raw score of 150 on the Psychological Service Bureau (PSB) Health Occupations Aptitude Examination. The raw score total includes Academic Aptitude – Total, Spelling, Reading Comprehension, Information in the Natural Sciences and Vocational Adjustment Index. Exam must be completed within five years of the program start date.
5. Applicants to the ADN Nursing program must earn an Adjusted Individual Total Score of 65% on the pre entrance Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) exam. Exam must be completed within five years of the program start date.
6. Applicants to the ADN Nursing Program must possess a current State Certified Nursing Assistant Certificate (CNA) or be a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). The certification or license must have been obtained within the last five years or the applicant must have worked as a CNA or LPN for a minimum of one year within the last five years.  Work experience must be documented by an employer letter of verification.  This letter must be on company letterhead and include the dates of employment, job title and a brief description of duties.
7. Applicants to the ADN Nursing, Pharmacy Technology-Degree, Dental Hygiene, and Pharmacy Technology-Diploma program may earn bonus points in the selection process.  

ADN Nursing (maximum three (3) bonus points available)

• One (1) point for six months clinical work experience within the last two years. Clinical experience is defined as actual patient care that includes the delivery of physical care, such as certified nursing assistant, nurse aide, practical nurse, patient care technician, medical assistant, surgical technician, back office worker in a clinic or physician’s office, or emergency medical technician.
• One (1) point for completion of the Nurse Aide certificate program, including ALHS 1040, ALHS 1060, ALHS 1090 and NAST 1100.
• Two (2) points for current Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN).

Dental Hygiene (maximum three (3) additional bonus points available)

• One (1) point for any healthcare clinical work experience.
• Two (2) points for dental related work experience such as a lab technician or front office employee.
• Three (3) points for more than one year equivalent of full-time experience as a dental assistant.

Pharmacy Technology Degree & Diploma (maximum three (3) additional bonus points available)

• One (1) point for six months healthcare clinical work experience.  Clinical experience is defined as actual patient care that includes the delivery of physical care, such as certified nursing assistant, nurse aide, practical nurse, patient care technician, medical assistant, surgical technician, back office worker in a clinic or physician’s office, or emergency medical technician.
• Two (2) points for six to twelve months pharmacy work experience such as a pharmacy technician or pharmacy clerk.
• Three (3) points for more than one year equivalent of full-time experience as a pharmacy tech.

1. Student must submit a Competitive Selection File Review Request form to the Office of Student Affairs by the application deadline. All required documents must be attached to the form. Forms submitted prior to the completion of all requirements or submitted with documents missing, will be returned to the student and not considered in the selection process. The following documents must be attached to the Competitive Selection File Review Request form.

• Copy of the front and back of current CPR Certification by the American Heart Association for the Healthcare Provider card (not required for Clinical Laboratory Technology)
• Psychological Service Bureau (PSB) Health Occupations Aptitude Examination score report or the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) exam score report, as required for program of application (not required for Clinical Laboratory Technology)

Additional documents are required for the ADN Nursing, Dental Hygiene programs, and Pharmacy Technology-Degree, and Pharmacy Technology-Diploma.

ADN Nursing

• Copy of current CNA Certification or copy of current Practical Nursing License
• If student is requesting bonus points for clinical work experience, an employer letter of verification is required. This letter must be on company letterhead and include the dates of employment, job title and a brief description of duties.

Dental Hygiene

• If student is requesting bonus points for clinical work experience, dental related work experience or experience as a dental assistant, an employer letter of verification is required. This letter must be on company letterhead and include the dates of employment, job title and a brief description of duties.

Pharmacy Technology Degree & Diploma

• If student is requesting bonus points for clinical work experience, dental related work experience or experience as a dental assistant, an employer letter of verification is required. This letter must be on company letterhead and include the dates of employment, job title and a brief description of duties.

1. Any student who is selected and declines admission will not automatically be admitted to another class cohort, and may be required to reapply through the competitive selection process.
2. Any student who is admitted to a competitive selection program, who does not complete the program with their cohort, must submit a written petition for approval to be readmitted.  Applicants to the Registered Nursing and Practical Nursing programs must petition the Dean of Nursing.  Applicants to all other programs must petition the Dean of the School of Health Sciences to be readmitted. Some reentry requirements will apply for selected programs and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
3. Students who have an academic failure or withdraw failing from an occupational course in any Health Sciences or Nursing program may only repeat the course one time.  Students with a second failure of the same occupation course or any subsequent course in the same program will not be eligible to progress in the program.  Students with two academic failures in occupational courses will not be allowed a third attempt.This applies to all occupational courses in the School of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing except for those occupational courses in the Health Information Technology, Fire Science, Healthcare Professional, Healthcare Management, Health Care Assistant, and Nurse Aide programs. This also applies to students who fail Health Sciences courses in the same program at other institutions and transfer to West Georgia Technical College. 

Competitive Selection Scoring

As stated in the Applicant Requirements, specific technical, science, and Health Sciences courses must be completed within seven years of the program start date. Courses that expire prior to the program start date will not be accepted or included in the GPA calculation. The GPA calculation will be based strictly on the courses required for the selection process. If a course has been repeated, the higher grade earned will be used in the calculation. The GPA will be calculated according to the current semester course credits.

A student that satisfies a required course by College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exam, College-Level Examination Placement (CLEP) credit, or exemption exam, should contact the Office of Student Affairs for information regarding the scoring of the course.

The Psychological Service Bureau Exam (PSB) score will be calculated based on the total raw score including Academic Aptitude – Total, Spelling, Reading Comprehension, Information in the Natural Sciences and Vocational Adjustment Index.

The Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) score will be calculated based on the Adjusted Individual Total Score percent.

Each complete Competitive Selection File Review Request received by the application deadline will be evaluated according to a 100 point scale. All application requirements must be met, and all required documents must be attached to the request, for a file to be considered complete.

Applicants will receive their file evaluation score by their student email account. After all files are evaluated, the students with the highest scores will be notified by student email and invited to enroll. A student who declines the invitation to enroll will not automatically be admitted to another class cohort, and may be required to reapply through the competitive selection process.

Students who are not selected will be notified of their status by their student email account. A student must submit a new Competitive Selection File Review Request, along with required documentation, to be included in the next selection process for the same program or the selection process for another program.

Health Sciences and Nursing Program Admission

A student selected for admission to a competitive selection degree or diploma program will enter a class cohort and complete the program through a lock-step course schedule for the duration of the program.

The student must have the following official documentation on file prior to registration for any health science course that has a clinical rotation. Students will receive information regarding the submission of the documents from the program depart and will not be allowed to register for courses if documentation is not complete.

• Completed Physical Examination and Health History, with a physician’s statement that the student is in satisfactory health
• Copy of immunization records and/or titers. This includes proof of administration of two MMRs and student must show proof of positive rubella, rubeola, varicella and mumps titers.
• Two-step PPD and/or chest x-ray
• Adacel immunization unless the student has received a tetanus immunization within the past five years. Documentation of administration of tetanus immunization is required.
• Hepatitis vaccine series or signed declination form.
• Flu shots for current season.
• CPR Certification by American Heart Association for Healthcare Provider (not required for Clinical Laboratory Technology)
• Criminal background check and urine drug screen completed by Student Advantage
• Criminal background check and urine drug test will be evaluated by clinical sites. It is the clinical site decision to allow or restrict a student with a criminal background or a positive drug test. If a student is restricted from a site; they will be dropped from the program.