MCC’s Corporate and Community Training Center’s Medical Office Assistant Program Leads to Successful Job Placement

MANCHESTER, Conn. (September 10, 2018) – Manchester Community College’s Corporate and Community Training Center (CCTC) has partnered with the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) to provide in-demand job skills to a segment of the workforce that traditionally has been underserved in higher education.

The partnership’s successful Medical Office Assistant (MOA) program has a 100 percent completion rate and, among the 30 students who enrolled for the 2017-18 academic year, 17 are now employed full-time in the greater Hartford area, and 16 students are continuing their education toward associate degrees or certificate programs at MCC.

The program was funded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving under their Career Pathways Initiative. MCC has been working with CREC through five cohorts, and a sixth cohort is beginning this fall.

“CREC’s wrap-around services and support, coupled with MCC’s classroom training and services, provide a solid foundation of skills for transitioning into the workplace as Medical Office Assistants,” CCTC Business Services Representative Doreen Forbes-Rogers said.

Students from Greater Hartford who are non-native English speakers are eligible to attend eight weeks of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at CREC. After successful completion of the ESL classes, students who also meet other eligibility requirements can attend the nine-week MOA program.  Upon completion, they are eligible to receive up to six college credits.

Working with CREC, the CCTC designed a nine-week curriculum that includes communication in the workplace, medical terminology, keyboarding and medical records management. Following their classes at MCC, students participate in an eight-week field study internship that can lead to full-time employment, or students can continue their education at MCC.

The partnership as a whole has been a great success, according to Erika Dejesus, job placement director at CREC. “We have placed many students at St. Francis Hospital, Hartford Hospital, Starling Physicians and in private practices,” she said. “We have watched students flourish and grow, coming into our program feeling lost and without direction to achieving academic and employment success to setting long-term goals in the health field.”

For additional information, contact Doreen Forbes-Rogers at 860-512-2817 or dforbes-rogers@manchestercc.edu or Mick Pigott at 860-512-2815 or mpigott@manchestercc.edu.

About the CCTC – Manchester Community College’s Corporate and Community Training Center (CCTC) collaborates with organizations to design courses or programs that enhance performance and help maintain or grow a competitive edge. Customers can choose training with MCC’s industry-experienced faculty at their sites or opt for classes held in the modern, well-equipped and easily accessible facilities on the MCC campus. Course offerings encompass topics that include essential skills, computer skills, manufacturing, allied health, law enforcement and more. The CCTC also provide state in-service training for state employees.