Brandan Perez is a Medical Assisting student at Carrington’s Boise campus. A family-oriented lover of sports and video games, Brandan’s early experiences with his parents’ doctors’ appointments sparked him to pursue a career in which he could help people in similar situations of managing illness. His instructor, Thais Scales, says Brandan has “taken mentorship very seriously and even helped us with things like student orientation.” He will soon continue on into the nursing program at Carrington. Here, Brandan tells us about his time at Carrington and his life and career journey so far.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests?
I like to wind down and play video games with my family. I take interest in sports, so anytime I have a chance to go outside and play something, even if it’s with my nieces or nephews or my cousins, I do tend to take it. I’m a very family-oriented person, so I’d rather be around my family than go out and be around strangers, I would say. Other than that, I chose the medical field because both my parents do have medical conditions and I wanted to see what I can do to help better them in any way that I could.
Is that what made you decide to pursue a career in medical assisting?
Yes. I would go to my mom’s appointments with her, and I would sit in with them. I found it very interesting to see the ways and methods, and the wording that they would use. Some of them are very insensitive. So I made it my goal that I don’t want to be like that.
What were you doing before you enrolled at Carrington?
I was actually a manager for GameStop.
Why did you choose to attend Carrington?
I had done my research, and there wasn’t a school that was really like them. The hands-on aspect was very intriguing to me, as there’s not many places where they have as much of a hands-on experience. I got in contact with my advisor, who actually set me up with getting enrolled. It just seemed very genuine that they do care. And going through my program, it’s been a true testament that they truly do care about you and your future. They’re not just there for a paycheck.
How do you think that the Carrington program will prepare you for your future career?
The Carrington program has done a really good job for me. I went into this knowing the minimum of any sort of medical terminology, any sort of procedures. My instructors, both Ms. Denny and Ms. Scales, have made it a really big aspect in their teachings of how to be professional, how to address certain instances that you’re going to encounter out in the field that are going to be uncomfortable. They gave us a lot of insight on what they did when they ran into those situations when they were out in the field, giving us that personal experience that they’ve had. It helped me out a lot so then I can know more or less what I should do in that situation or how my instructor would go about it.
What do you enjoy most about being a student at Carrington?
What I enjoy the most is the fact that there are so many different aspects of the course that you aren’t entirely sure of, but with the hands-on experience and the classroom experience with our instructors, they make sure that you are prepared for whatever may come your way. What I’m enjoying most about the Medical Assisting program is the fact that we actually get to work on our peers. So if there’s something that we aren’t too sure about, then our instructors will demonstrate how we’re supposed to do it. They’ll walk us through every step of the way. If we have any questions, they work with us and they help us out. When we were doing our phlebotomy module, we were doing blood draws. And one thing that I really enjoyed was that Ms. Denny would stand there with you and she would make sure that you were doing everything you possibly can to make sure that your patient is at their most comfortable. That’s how basically every single module has been. They’re very focused on you as a person. It’s not an experience that I’ve had very often, even in my work experience, I’ve never had a manager just be there with me, where if I had questions, they would answer it. Most people, they’ll just throw you out to the wolves and say, Good luck, figure it out.
What do you find most challenging?
What I struggled with was the fast-paced course. I wasn’t entirely too sure how it was going to be at first, but once I got into a groove, I figured it out. It cut me the first module. Other than that, I would say just learning all the medical terminology and remembering it and finding a way that works for you for studying.
What gets you through the hard times at school?
I’ve made a few friends at school, and I didn’t intend on making friends. I was mainly there just to be there. Then after my first module, I actually talked to my brother and I got him to enroll in the Medical Assisting program. So I had family support as well.
How would you describe the culture at Carrington?
It honestly feels like you’re part of a family. It’s not like most colleges or even high schools where you’ll see people that you’ve never met and you won’t say hi to any of them. When you go there, if someone says hi to you, it’s in a warm, welcoming manner, and it makes you want to say hi back. And then you have conversations with the people. It’s been my experience that I’ve even had conversations with the Pharmacy Technology students. And that’s not usual for me because I’m not a very outgoing person where I’ll go out and have conversations with just anyone. But that’s really helped me out. At Carrington, I’ve opened up more, to the point where I will have a conversation with just about anyone.
What was/is your extern like?
I start my extern on Monday. I’ve met everyone. And so far, from what I’ve experienced from that, they’re very welcoming, and overall, it’s an amazing clinic that I’m going to.
Is there a Carrington instructor or staff member that you’d like to shout out or acknowledge?
Both of my instructors, Ms. Denny and Ms. Scales. They’ve helped me so much throughout all of this whole experience.
What advice would you have for students going back to school, and students who are interested in going into the Medical Assisting program?
It’s funny you ask this question because since my third module, I’ve actually been helping with the new student orientation and I get asked this every single time. What I always say is, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and your attendance is important. Also, when you do make friends with your peers, it does help you, as in you can have more study buddies. Sometimes you may think that there’s someone that says off things here and there, but there’s probably that one time where they do say something and it clicks with you, so always be listening.
What’s next for you? Do you have a plan for when you’re done with school?
I actually finish out my Medical Assisting program here in five weeks. I’ll be done by March 10th.
Is there anything you want to add?
Just that overall, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this experience, but it honestly has changed my life for the better.
