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Rising Above the Rest

Kingsport Endoscopy Clinic in Kingsport, Tennessee, knows where to find the best when looking for medical assistants; that’s why they have no less than four Bristol Campus graduates working there.

2005 graduate Aimee Lessard and 2008 graduates Cathy Rice, Melinda Starnes, and Brandy Wilson are all employed at the busy practice. Not surprisingly, the four graduates of the campus’s medical assisting program have another trait in common: what they love most about their jobs. “The patients,” they all stated nearly in unison when we stopped by to visit with them recently.

Nonetheless, each of the women has her own story and circumstances. While Aimee has been employed the longest, she is also the youngest. “I went [to National] straight out of high school,” she explained. Graduating from high school half a semester early, in December, she found that National was the only local college where she could start her medical assisting classes right away, an advantage that was important to her.

National was the only local college where she could start her medical assisting classes right away

Melinda was already a mother with three young children when she decided to return to school. “I just decided it was time to do something different,” she said. “I worked at Cracker Barrel for 10 years.” The prospect of a new career in the medical field was just the sort of life change she was looking for, and National provided her with the opportunity she needed.

Kingsport Endoscopy, like many employers, finds National’s Career Center a real asset, and know they can count on career center directors like Bristol’s Tammy Coley to be able to match them up with well-qualified graduates. It’s no surprise to find several National graduates working for the same employers – because our graduates do “rise above the rest.”