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Sky’s the Limit

Jared Callaway is finishing his last week of medical assisting classes at the Knoxville Campus, but he’s already thinking about his educational venture. “My next step, actually, I looked into helicopter training,” says Jared. “I want to fly the Life Stars that take injured victims from hospital to hospital.” Six more months of intensive training, and a couple of years of steady flight experience will be necessary before Jared can realize his new dream. But this is not a young man who is easily deterred from his goals.

Two years ago, Jared was working in construction but wanted to start a career in the medical field. “At the time I was looking into schools, I wanted to go through an RN program at Pellissippi [State Technical Community College] and Roane State [Community College],” he recalls. “They were both telling me that it was going to be at least six months waiting before I could do anything and that just wasn’t going to cut it for me.”

Then he heard about National College, and learned that he could start the medical assisting program in just two weeks. “It was a good way for me to get an associate’s degree, and it was convenient for me because I still needed to work and provide for my fiancée and myself,” he says. “I enrolled.”

[The community colleges] were both telling me that it was going to be at least six months waiting…that just wasn’t going to cut it for me.

National’s program put him on the fast track to success, and he is already employed as a medical assistant at Knoxville Internal Medicine, a full term ahead of finishing his degree. Like many of his fellow graduates, he found that his classes at National prepared him well for the workforce. “I had some great teachers; I had the privilege of having Ms. Rhonda Epps for a few classes,” he says, with a wink and a smile. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way as far as having her teach Invasive Procedures.”

What does Jared most like about his new career? “The ability to help people that are in need, to take care of people that are sick,” he replies thoughtfully. “A lot of these people are older, their husband or wife has passed on, and they don’t have anyone to talk to any more, and even though I don’t have much time, I can talk to them for a few minutes and that seems to brighten their day.”