Joint Venture with Mountain Gateway Community College

Virginia Western Community College delivers the Associate of Applied Science Degree Medical Laboratory Technician on the Roanoke campus as well as to the Mountain Gateway Community College via distance learning. The first Joint Venture class at MGCC will begin in Fall 2024, pending approval. Students are admitted to the distance site annually. The program is designed to instill in graduates a strong understanding of  the concepts and clinical aspects of laboratory medicine. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will be eligible to take a national board certification examination leading to ASCP Certification as a Medical Lab Technician MLT (ASCP).

How does the distance program operate?

The Joint Venture program is a distance satellite of VWCC’s accredited MLT program. Students enroll in the same classes and have clinical experiences identical to students on the Roanoke campus. The MLT classroom environment consists of various modalities. Courses originate from the main campus at VWCC and are delivered through Canvas, collaborate, and in the classroom. The MLT lecture is delivered “live” to the other classroom site by HyFlex format; students can see and talk to the classroom instructor and to students at the Roanoke site. Preclinical, clinic, and laboratory courses will take place at the clinical facility developed by the Joint Venture site. MGCC students meet at the MGCC and Alleghany Regional Hospital.  MGCC students Alleghany Service Region and will come to Roanoke Memorial Hospital and will attend other clinical sites that will be determined in the future. Students may complete general support courses in the curriculum (Ethics, Developmental Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology I and II, etc.) at MGCC.

How do MGCC students communicate with VWCC faculty who teach distance courses?

Students can talk with the instructor during class sessions using the compressed video. In addition, weekly conference time will be provided for students at the joint venture site as “office hours” for faculty-student communication. Students will have individual email accounts. Other communication can be done by phone or fax. A Clinical Coordinator will be employed by VWCC and will handle all the scheduling of MGCC students in the program.

How can I learn more about the student experience at the joint venture site?

For MGCC specific information, you may visit the MGCC website at https://www.mgcc.edu.

For specific questions about the distance classroom and clinical experiences of the students at the Joint Venture site, you may contact:

Dr. Jeff Gillette at VWCC 540-857-6293 (jgillett@virginiawestern.edu)

To apply for admission, send all application materials directly to:

Pamela Woody
Health Professions Advising and Applications Office
VWCC
3091 Colonial Ave.
Roanoke, Va. 24015.

Early application and submission of academic material is encouraged for advising purposes.

Ms. Woody will review your application material for completeness and provide guidance on the admission requirements. You may contact the Health Professions Advising Team at healthprofessions@virginiawestern.edu.

In addition, the Program Advisor for MLT is Ms. Rhonda Perdue (rperdue@virginiawetern.edu) and you can reach out to her for course suggestions and career planning. Please note that Ann Courtney is the contact advisor at Mountain Gateway Community College and can assist you in course selections at MGCC.  Not all courses required in the Advanced Healthcare Certificate, need to be completed to prepare for entry into MLT at VWCC.  Ms. Courtney can be reached at acourtney@mgcc.edu or 540-863-2825.