Esperanza College of Eastern University’s Medical Assisting associate’s degree program is one of a kind, and it’s offered in the heart of the North Philadelphia Hunting Park neighborhood.
After it’s inauguration in the fall of 2013, Esperanza College is proud to announce the first cohort of students have graduated from the Medical Assisting program. Seven out of seven students who took the certification exam passed. That is a 100% success rate in certification preparedness for Esperanza College’s Medical Assisting program graduates!
What makes this program unique is that rather than a short 9-month training, it is a full 2-year degree program that gives students the option to continue their education in Nursing or other 4-year degree. Students take two semesters of Physiology and Anatomy beginning with a boot camp at Drexel Medical School. The medical students at Drexel mentor Esperanza College students during this boot camp, making it both a teaching and learning experience for all who are involved.
What makes the Medical Assisting program at Esperanza College particularly special is that students take part in activities that hone leadership skills and make them community health advocates. The rapidly changing health care system needs dedicated workers whom, in addition to their technical skills, are people-oriented and capable of playing any role within in a health care team.
That’s why the tenets of Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) is integrated into our curriculum as an instructional and leadership tool that provides students with training far beyond the basic technical skills needed for entry into the medical field. In 2014, a team of Esperanza College Medical Assisting students won the national award for Community Awareness on the postsecondary/collegiate level at HOSA’s National Leadership Conference.
Furthermore, Susan G. Komen has partnered up with Esperanza College to spread breast health awareness in the North Philadelphia Latino Community by offering training to our Medical Assisting students and providing the means for them to go out into the community and educate their families and neighbors. This past spring, Komen Philadelphia honored our students at the annual Latinas Unidas Para La Cura event.
Esperanza College’s Medical Assisting program includes a 160 hour externship where students get real-world, hands-on experience, making them as prepared as they can be to enter into the medical field after graduation. With a degree in Medical Assisting, graduates will be qualified to work in the health care industry as integral support to doctors and other health professionals by performing critical clinical and administrative tasks. Training consists of providing basic medical functions, becoming knowledgeable in patient care, and enabling quality and accurate preparation of patients.
“In all honesty, having earned my certification as a certified clinical medical assistant has given me the courage to continue my education, in the field of nursing,” said Margarita Huertas, one of Esperanza’s May graduates, “Also, I have now been afforded with the chance for new employment and educational opportunities. Most of all, earning my certification and college degree has bestowed me with a sense of pride for my accomplishments, and thankfulness for the people who have helped me obtain them.”
To learn more about Esperanza College’s Medical Assisting program, contact Nilsa Graciani at ngraciani@esperanza.us!