FGCU’s Marieb College of Health and Human Services strives to prepare any student planning for a future career in medical and health services.
Dr. Shawn Felton has been the interim dean and professor for the Marieb College of Health and Human Services for the past three years.
Dr. Felton said that Marieb College works with many different employers throughout Southwest Florida.
“Our largest clinical provider and employer in Southwest Florida is Lee Heath,” Dr. Felton said. “They support all of our programs, they are a great clinical partner. On the clinical side, you have nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician’s assistant. And our other programs are in health science, health administration, counseling, social work.”
These partnerships give students the opportunity to work in the field they are majoring in.
Other organizations that Marieb College works with include Naples Comprehensive Healthcare and Arthrex.
“We have more clinical placements for our social work students than we have students, that is a positive,” Dr. Felton said.
Marieb College is working with students to be prepared for the changing world. Dr. Felton said that they are beginning to investigate artificial intelligence and how they will be able to integrate these systems in the future.
The Marieb College of Health and Human Services prepares students through high-fidelity simulations and implements hologram technology.
Dr. Felton said there are many different organizations that students in Marieb College serve with to prepare themselves for their future. The different associations in Marieb College work with nonprofit organizations to better the community.
Marieb College saw more graduations last spring than in the fall and summer. Dr. Felton said there are 2,700 students in college, and it is the third largest college on campus.
Dr. Felton teaches one class in the fall and spring. This course is the Medical Device Industry course where he works with Arthrex by having two guest speakers talk to students about the field.
“I find it very important to still teach to be connected to students, always remember why you are here in the first place, to still understand some of the challenges students are having,” Dr. Felton said.
The course is an upper-division elective that is open to all students. There is also an opportunity to complete a micro-credential digital badge for students that complete this course with a B or higher. This process will start after completion of the course and take five to six weeks to complete after the semester. If the student completes all the requirements of the digital badge, they will get an interview with Arthrex.
“I am a big fan of digital badges [and] micro-credentials because it provides an upscaling opportunity, as we all see the work environments in the industry is constantly changing and we need rescaling and upscaling to be done very quickly, I think that gives our students definite advantage among other students,” Dr. Felton said.
