Juggling being a teacher and a forensic nurse is viewed as an impossible task, but not to new Medical Professions teacher, April Nguyen, who has accepted this challenge and has made it look like a breeze.  

After losing Chris Humphrey, last year’s Medical Professions (Med Pro) teacher, Nguyen has taken over. This has opened up a new door for the program. Nguyen’s current experience in the medical field has allowed her to teach up-to-date medical techniques to her Medical Profession classes.

“I’m also a forensic nurse on the weekends and during the week,” Nguyen said. “[This] brings real life practice into this classroom, so what I am teaching is actually current practice and not something that was from 50 years ago.”

With the change of teachers, Med Pro II students, who had both Humphrey and now Nguyen, have accepted the incorporation of Nguyen’s new ideas into the classroom setting.

“I love how she uses her own experiences and knowledge she attained from her years of nursing to teach us,” Med Pro II senior Raneem Ben-Mansour stated on having Nguyen as her teacher.

Nguyen eventually wants to expand her knowledge in medicine by receiving her doctorate degree either this year or the next, focusing on combining her research with her current involvement teaching a CTA program.

“I want the PhD. A lot of people don’t like research but I do.” said Nguyen. “I would really be interested in doing some research to see how many students come from CTA Med. Profession programs actually do make it into a medical field and how successful they are. That would definitely be a longitudinal study but it would be amazing.”

Throughout the year, Nguyen’s main goal is to have her Med Pro II students pass the Licensed Nursing assistant (LNA) exam.

“For Med Pro II, I want a 100% pass rate on my LNA exam on skills and written. I want every single one of my students to be at the pinning ceremony and wearing my blue cords at graduation,” Nguyen stated.

Although Nguyen is setting high standards for her Med Pro students, she has also transitioned the classroom into more than a learning environment.

“She has a lot of personality, and she really makes me feel like she wants what’s best for me,” senior Caitlin Clark said. “She is not teaching us just for us to pass the test. She is teaching us to go above and beyond to be the best nurses and also the best people we can be.”

The addition of Nguyen into the staff has opened up a new outlook for the future of the Medical Profession program here. “Teaching is probably one of the most rewarding jobs because you are leaving who you are with that many students,” Nguyen said. “You make that big of an impact. It takes a lot of patience and drive, but it is definitely worth it.