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WINNINGHAM: We're experiencing a dramatic shift in demographics.

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In this country, every 7 seconds another adult turns 65 years of age.

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There are many opportunities in the retirement industry, long-term care industry, and healthcare fields.

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This is a growing population, and we need more trained professionals to work in this industry.

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["More than 150."]

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Well, the psychology division at Western Oregon University has 15 full-time faculty, and we offer a range of courses

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that help people prepare for work in clinical services, social work,

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brain science or neuroscience research, or industrial organizational psychology.

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Now we are excited to offer a major in gerontology. This is Oregon's first undergraduate major

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in the field of gerontology, which involves working with older adults.

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In designing this degree, we've developed a wide variety of courses for students to choose from.

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For example, we have courses in palliative care and chronic illness.

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We also have courses in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and courses on healthcare operations.

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An important part of our program is to give students real-world hands-on experience,

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the type of experience that can help them get a job or get into graduate schools.

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Another exciting aspect of this major is a student can come back, if they have a bachelor's degree, and in only 45 credit hours,

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they can earn a Gerontology Bachelor's degree.

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There are many types of careers you can go into with a degree in gerontology. For example, students can go into the healthcare services,

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focus on nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology.

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There's also the track that we have that can help prepare students to work with hospice or palliative care, end-of-life care.

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There are many jobs and very fulfilling careers available in that area as well.

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This major goes along with other efforts that Western Oregon University has to offer programs in the healthcare fields.

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The elderly population is growing, and gerontology is a great field to help people prepare to work with this industry.

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