The Amarillo College Allied Health Division (AHD) began in 1968 as the School of Biomedical Arts and Sciences. At that time 5 programs of study were offered with about 150 declared majors and seven faculty. In 1980, the college reorganized its structure from "schools" to "divisions." Today, the AHD offers 15 programs of study with about 1500 declared majors and 27 full-time faculty. Most of these programs are located in the Allied Health Building on the West Campus. The two dental programs are located in Jones Hall on the West Campus which also houses a modern Dental Clinic. The Mortuary Science programs of study are located in Building 'C' on the West Campus.

The current Chairman of the AHD is Bill Crawford who was one of the original seven faculty.

Each of the faculty persons throughout the AHD are veterans in their professional disciplines and possess appropriate academic degrees along with national and state credentials to support the subjects they teach.

On the left side of this Home Page you will see the names of the fifteen Allied Health programs. By clicking on the program icon of your choice, you will be taken to detailed information including a brief summary of the respective career, courses required, application inform-ation, and other important information you will need to get started with your education plan.

In addition to taking coursework in modern, high-tech lecture rooms, every program also provides an on-campus dedicated laboratory space containing modern equipment where students can begin to develop their technical skills before actually having direct patient contact. Once students are competent in the basic skills they are scheduled into medical, dental, and mortuary facilities in and around Amarillo where discipline-specific skills continue to be developed and refined. After the student has completed his or her program of study, the graduate will take a national and/or state board examination that, upon successful completion, provides the needed credentials to legally practice the respective profession.

Some of the allied health programs reward the graduate with a "Certificate of Completion" in the respective discipline. These programs are three semesters or less in length. Most of the programs reward the graduate with the Associate in Applied Science Degree (AAS) and are at least four semesters in length and require a core of fifteen semester-hours of "general academic" courses in addition to the health-related courses of the discipline.

If you decide to pursue one of the allied health careers at AC, you will need to make a special application to the respective program in addition to the general application to Amarillo College. Also, enrollment in each program is limited due to limited training space in the regional affiliate facilities, so an early application is strongly recommended. Each program has a very specific set of criteria used to select each group of new students. Once you have chosen a  specific program, it is important to become very familiar with the selection criteria as soon as possible so that you can plan ahead. Likewise, it is also very important to make an early personal contact with the program director to ensure that you understand the application and selection process and to establish a file in your name.

Kim Lacey

Each Allied Health program has a "Program Director" who leads the program and serves as the program's primary faculty advisor. Your first contact should be with the director of the program you select. If the director is not immediately available, you should contact the division's Executive Secretary who is Kim Lacey. She can be reached at 806-354-6055 and will get you in contact with your director.