Southwest Gwinnett Magazine: Good Samaritan’s Access Academy Graduates First Cohort of Medical Assistants

 

During the ceremony students were presented with certificates of completion and pins marking the achievement. The tradition marks graduates’ transition from students to healthcare professionals, where they receive a pin symbolizing their hard work, dedication and readiness for patient care after completing the rigorous training.

The licentiates had dreamed of embarking on medical careers for a long time and acknowledged the advantages of the small class size and individual attention.

“I’m pursuing my bachelor’s to be a doctor before going to med school, and so this is a stepping stone,” said 18-year-old Johan Biju. “I want to start with medical assisting, so I can get more clinical hours, get more patient interaction and things like that.”

Community helping community

Although medical assisting programs have existed for a long time, incorporating one with the area’s only “safety-net” clinic was a new concept. Good Sam is a nonprofit organization that provides routine non-emergency medical and dental services for the uninsured and underinsured working poor in the community — many of whom are made up of immigrant families with little or no English language skills.

In an effort to do the most good, Good Sam administrators envisioned a way to allow the community to help its members.

“Several years ago, Greg Lang, who is my predecessor, and I were talking about … how we wanted to come up with a way to train younger students, those who may not know if they want to go into health care, who may need a hand up, because they’re brand new to the medical field,” said Good Sam CEO Shameka Allen.

The centers have a reputation for hosting many master’s level students such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners in externships in the two clinics.

“We’ve been in the training business for over a decade,” said Allen. “And now [this program] literally started with a thought process and a dream. And here we are, three years later.”

First steps on the path

All three of the graduates are first- or second-generation Americans whose bilingual skills help with communication. Samantha Alonso Torres started working at Good Sam a week before the graduation event. She’s fluent in Spanish and is thrilled to begin her career where she received so much knowledge and encouragement.

“I always knew that in the near future I want to do nursing,” she said. “Being a medical assistant is just me putting a foot in that pathway.”

At 20 years old, she’s the first one in her family in the medical field, but she hopes to be a role model for younger relatives.

“I like that I can give them advice on what to do, on how to get into health care,” she said.

Similarly, Laylha Velasquez Pineda’s family experiences had an influence on her decision to join the medical profession. Her younger brother had a health crisis that awakened her nurturing nature.

“Once I saw how that nurse literally saved his life, it just sparked something in me,” she said. “I really admire that person until this day because he saved my little brother’s life. And I want to be able to be there for people too. Even though I know things sometimes go wrong, I know that I can do my best to help.”

The 19-year-old has aspirations to become an orthopedic surgeon. Surgery is an area that Biju is interested in as well. He graduated from high school in May and went right into the Access Academy program in June.

“My mom is a nurse. So, she always tells stories about health care in general, and I like that,” he said. “Last year, I shadowed a doctor in my mom’s hospital. So I watched him do surgeries, a cardio thoracic surgeon, actually. And it was really eye opening for me, and it was really inspiring.”

Supporting local needs

Allen also thanked State Rep. Marvin Lim, D-Norcross, for his support. He’s the CEO and founder of Lucky Shoals Community Association, a nonprofit focused on community development and improvement.

“About one in four people [in this area] don’t have health insurance. At the same time, healthcare is one of our strongest workforces,” he said. “Good Samaritan has been a wonderful resource, certainly, to get value-based, really, really good health care across the spectrum and continuum.”

Lim added that he’s excited for the Access Academy program in particular because it utilizes the strengths of the community to address their needs. He’s glad that Good Sam remains a resource for those that may be reluctant to seek medical care elsewhere.

“What I’ve appreciated about Good Samaritan is, again, true to their values, they are in the community, so they lower those barriers as much as possible,” he said. “If you’re afraid of driving to Northside Piedmont to get care. You can come here. The drive is shorter. So whatever fears you have — they’re still valid, of course — but they’re reducing so many of those barriers across cost, culture and language.”

Looking to the future

Although the first class was smaller than they anticipated, Allen said they are capping each one at ten students.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t take more than ten students,” she said. “We’d just have to add another instructor.”

A new building has already been purchased to house Access Academy and is expected to open next year.

“I think we’re uniquely qualified, because even before we send [students] to their extern sites, they’ve been up in our clinic, already seeing patients and working with our medical assistants,” said Allen. “At most colleges, they don’t get that experience until they go to externships, so it’s almost like throwing them into the wolf pack. But here, as they’re going through their courses, they’re actually working with real, live patients in our clinic.”

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