By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information
Shelley Sparks knows what a dead end looks like.
It’s a string of demoralizing minimum-wage jobs with little hope of a raise in pay or position. The hours are long and the labor is physically and mentally exhausting. Education and the prospect of advancement are lean.
But Sparks, a Mabank resident, also knows what hope looks like. She began to recognize it in the classroom at Trinity Valley Community College as she studied in the Medical/Nursing Assistant program through the Community Services and Workforce Education departments.
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“My life has changed in so many ways that it almost seems unreal when I look back to how things were,” said Sparks, a medical assistant at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman. “I am now making double what I was making only a few years ago.”
The Medical/Nursing Assistant program started as a non-credit program about eight years ago, utilizing parts of the training offered to nursing students at TVCC’s Health Science Center in Kaufman. The program aims to diversify the skill set of its students with the goal of making them more marketable and employable and to boost their earning ability.
M/NA courses are offered a la carte – meaning students can pick and choose which courses they want to take. Different combinations of courses can earn students various certificates. For example, a student can obtain a pharmacy tech certification by passing a course in pharmacology and pharmacy tech certification review. Passing the phlebotomy course combined with the practicum can earn a student a National Healthcareer Association certification.
The program offers the following certifications:
- Medical/Nursing Assistant (Level 1) College Certificate
- Medical/Nursing Assistant – Rehabilitation/Restorative Aide – Marketable Skills Award
- Medical/Nursing Assistant – Phlebotomy Certification
- Medical/Nursing Assistant – Pharmacy Tech Certification
- State of Texas Certified Nurse Aide certification
- National Healthcareers Association – National Phlebotomy Certification
- National Healthcareers Association – National Certified Medical Assistant Certification
“This program offers a lot of the same training that those programs offer at the Health Science Center,” said Gayla Roberts, TVCC’s Director of Community Services. “But we’re offering them so students can take them part-time with the kind of flexibility they need to work around their lives.”
Roberts said the M/NA program is ideal for members of the workforce who are undereducated and underemployed. That certainly was the case with Sparks, who said she dropped out of high school at 15, obtained her GED and later dropped out of college after realizing she didn’t have the education to keep up. In 2005, she began working for a school district and watched her peers move up the career ladder on the strength of education.
That motivated her to enroll in a phlebotomy class in the M/NA program at TVCC. She earned her first “A” in that class and continued to take courses that would help her earn a job as a medical assistant. She followed up phlebotomy with classes including medical terminology, CPR, pharmacology and computer fundamentals. She anticipates finishing her last certification this fall and completing the M/NA program with her state Certified Nurse Aide certification and national certifications in Phlebotomy and as a Certified Medical Assistant.
Sparks – who recently worked with dual-credit students to help them pass the state Nurse Aide Certification (CNA) exam – said she plans to continue her work toward becoming a registered nurse.
“The skills I have learned at TVCC have helped me in every situation at work, in clinicals and in my job searches,” she said. “I recently chose not to take a second job as a phlebotomist because the pay was much lower than what I was already making. It’s so nice to have that choice now. I now have the skills and ability to work in the medical field like I’ve always wanted to.”
For more information about the Medical/Nursing Assistant program, contact TVCC Community Services at 903-675-6212 or e-mail [email protected]. You can visit the Community Services website at www.tvcc.edu/communityservices.