Tuition for medical assistant program 100% covered through Memorial Hospital fundraising campaign
North Conway, NH – White Mountains Community College (WMCC) and Memorial Hospital have partnered to prepare clinical medical assistants.
The college and the hospital have created a credit-bearing apprenticeship program for students aimed at filling open positions at Memorial’s primary care settings. Students will also rotate through the hospital’s specialty practices of women’s health, surgery, urology and orthopedics. Eight individuals will be hired by Memorial Hospital and will then be enrolled in WMCC’s Medical Assistant Certificate program. On completion of the nine-month program they will become certified medical assistants at the hospital.
The eight individuals hired by Memorial Hospital will begin their full-time, nine-month Medical Assistant Certificate program at WMCC in the fall of 2021 with two class days per week at WMCC and three on-site at the hospital. The lab portion of the program will take place at the college’s Littleton campus and the classroom portion at the North Conway campus. Individuals will be paid for their classroom and clinical time and will also be eligible for Memorial Hospital’s full benefits package including medical, dental, paid time off and retirement plan.
“This has been a great team effort between WMCC and Memorial Hospital in creating a flexible and convenient medical assistant training program for individuals interested in starting a career in healthcare and doing so in a way that will have them fully job ready in less than one year’s time,” said Coordinator of Workforce Development and Community Education at WMCC, Tamara Roberge. “We look forward to working with the hospital and doing our part in ensuring that our community’s healthcare needs are being met by collaborating on ways to fill high demand positions in healthcare such as medical assistants.”
Tuition and fees for the program are fully paid through a fund created by Memorial Hospital’s medical staff and through proceeds from the hospital’s 2020 Golf Tournament Fundraiser. Each year, the tournament raises crucial funds for hospital and community health programs. The annual event has raised more than $1 million throughout its 41-year history. Support for this program was also received by the Ann De Nikola Trust of Citizen’s Bank and the Mary Louise Billings Trust of Citizen’s Bank.
“WMCC students have been coming to Memorial for years to complete the clinical portion of their program with us. We know the quality of the program and many graduates are working here making a difference in the lives of our patients,” said Kris Dascoulias. “This is a great partnership to help students begin their healthcare journey and keep this amazing talent here in the community where we need them.”
WMCC’s Medical Assistant Certificate program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB).
Applications for the program are available at www.careersatmainehealth.org. To learn more about medical assistant positions at Memorial Hospital contact Beth Carpenter at [email protected] or 603-356-4939. To learn more about WMCC’s Medical Assistant Certificate program contact Tamara Roberge at [email protected], 603-342-3062 or visit wmcc.edu.
