The Richard T. Conard M.D. Medical and Dental Building on Manatee Technical Institute's new East Campus was opened on October 16, 2001.

The two-story building provides state of the art training in today's exciting medical fields.

The Medical, Dental, and Continuing Education programs are being offered at the East Campus with all programs offering working labs, deliver superior practical training in each field. Upon successful completion of a program, each student receives a certificate of completion. Every program at MTI is fully accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

At MTI, all instructors are experts in their respective fields. These instructors provide superior practical advice as well as textbook knowledge to their basic curriculum and hands-on experience.

In addition to general classroom lectures, clinical training is required in most programs. This clinical experience in hospitals, assisted living facilities, doctors offices, and dental offices is invaluable. Through working in clinical settings, students are exposed to real-life encounters that they would not ordinarily experience, thus enhancing their confidence and marketability.

Along with their clinical experience, MTI East Campus provides real life scenarios of emergencies. Students simulate life threatening situations with the use of one of our four Human Patient Simulators (HPS). It is the closest students come to experiencing a human in distress. The HPS can receive IV fluids, reveals B/P and pulses, its chest rises and falls during respirations. It even simulates cardiac arrest, allowing human responses. It is truly state-of-the-art technology which other schools do not have because of the cost of the equipment.

Annually, MTI is the training partner for over 10,000 students. MTI offers instruction for 10 of the top 20 fastest growing occupations in the U.S. that don't require a four year college degree. Over 80 percent of the programs train students for jobs listed as high wage, high-skill in the state of Florida.

The designer of the Richard T. Conard M.D. Medical and Dental Building was Fawley-Bryant Architects, Inc., one of Florida's leading architecture firms, Mike Bryant, one of the firm's principals, attended MTI as a high school student, W.G. Mills, Inc., was the construction manager. Without the tireless efforts of Fawley-Bryant and W.G. Mills working with the School Board's Construction Services, the finished product would not have been possible.

According to MTI Director Mary Cantrell, the new facility will also be used as an evacuation site for individuals with medical conditions. The building meets and exceeds all codes to be designated as an emergency evacuation site. Cantrell stated, "The number seven rebars are placed every two feet: the building is a fortress!"