Jasmine H. wanted a career that would allow her to provide for her daughter but have a flexible schedule. That’s why she decided to become a medical assistant (MA).
Jasmine started in a program at a local college, but felt there was a lack of support from staff and dropped out. After an additional negative experience at a second school, Jasmine became hesitant about her career choice. Her uneasiness changed though when she found the MA program at Concorde Career Institute’s Jacksonville campus.
“My mom had just started at Concorde for nursing,” Jasmine said. “She loved her instructors and was having such a good experience. I felt like I needed to check it out.”
Once Jasmine visited the Jacksonville campus, she was immediately impressed by the kindness and encouragement the Concorde staff provided. She completed the enrollment process and started the MA program in October 2019.
Overcoming Challenges
Jasmine flourished in the MA program with the assistance of her instructors. She was always supported and Jasmine could see how much the faculty cared for each student’s success.
“At Concorde, they made sure you understood everything,” she said. “It was completely opposite from my other two MA programs.”
From computer labs to one-on-one tutoring, instructors offered Jasmine and her fellow students a variety of resources to strengthen their skills. Jasmine even remembers one of her instructors staying late to help her better understand a lesson from class.
As much as Jasmine loved her program, it wasn’t always easy. Before starting her externship, Jasmine moved to Louisiana so she could have more support raising her daughter. Though she was no longer in Jacksonville, the MA program team worked tirelessly to find an opportunity for Jasmine to complete her externship in Louisiana.
“They were so supportive of my decision to move and do what’s best for my family,” Jasmine said. “Within four days, my program director found me a replacement site to do my externship hours.”
While Jasmine worked to complete her program, two hurricanes hit the area, causing her to lose her home. Meanwhile, Jasmine’s mother, who lives in Florida, was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Jasmine returned to Jacksonville to start over, take care of her mother and complete the remaining hours of her MA program. With hard work and help from her instructors, Jasmine graduated in December 2020 and was hired three days after starting at her new Jacksonville externship site, Angel Kids Pediatrics.
Practicing Medical Assisting
At Angel Kids Pediatrics, Jasmine’s responsibilities include taking blood draws, checking vitals, updating charts and inserting IVs. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with kids every day and loves being able to help her patients when they’re sick.
Something that made her nervous, however, was starting a job during a global pandemic. The hospital Jasmine works at offers COVID-19 testing to hundreds of people a day and MAs are often in contact with these patients.
“It was pretty scary,” Jasmine said. “But I felt super prepared because of Concorde. Not only did they train us for the core skills like checking vitals, but they also taught us how to thoroughly sanitize and disinfect tools to keep us and our patients safe. I couldn’t have done any of this without them.”
