From graduate to educator, this medical assistant instructor understands the challenges facing adult school students
If Jennifer Perez recognizes the many unique needs of the students at the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC) it’s because she herself once attended the school as a student, graduating from its GED program in 2010.
Perez, who recently returned to LASCC to teach, can also connect with her students thanks to her two decades’ worth of experience as a medical assistant: She has experience in virtually every area of healthcare.
“I’ve done urgent care, family practice, OBGYN, plastic surgery, dermatology, a little bit of everything,” Perez says.
In September, Perez began instructing in a LASCC and AUMT Institute partnership program, using her healthcare experience to teach in the school’s medical assistant program. The 10-week course combines schoolwork with real-world skills. Students work with an online instructor Monday through Thursday, then visit Perez on Friday evening for hands-on training that includes skills such as how to measure patients’ vital health information, administer injections and run tests.
“Not everybody is a four-year college type of person, so being able to have them come to Lompoc and get a technical degree is great.”
Jennifer Perez, Medical Assistant Educator, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center
Perez says she started teaching with the LASCC/AUMT program because she wanted to ensure that medical assistants in her community understood the fundamentals of the job. During her time working in various hospitals, she says she has witnessed workers who lack basic skills, such as measuring a patient’s blood pressure manually if the automatic monitor malfunctions.
“I’ve seen medical assistants who don’t really have a foundation, so [my goal] was to give them that foundation for their skills,” Perez says.
Perez says she’s enjoyed teaching at LASCC, particularly because the school was vital to her own career goals.
When she first enrolled at LASCC in 2010, Perez was working at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. During a workplace goal-setting exercise, her supervisor encouraged her to go back to school and earn her GED.
Wanting to set a good example for her children (she now has five, ages 8 to 21), Perez accepted the challenge.
Now, she looks back on her time there as a student fondly.
“It was a good experience,” Perez says. “Being an older adult, going back to get my GED … it took a lot to go back. [The staff] were really supportive and helpful.”
In addition to its diploma and medical assistant programs, LASCC offers English as a second language classes, computer classes, and career training programs. Perez is proud of all these services the LASCC provides.
“It’s great that [LASCC] is trying to bring all these classes to Lompoc because it’s an underserved community,” Perez said. “Not everybody is a four-year college type of person, so being able to have them come to Lompoc and get a technical degree is great.”
Outside of teaching, Perez continues to work full-time as a medical assistant in family practice. She’s also a registered phlebotomist. When she’s not working at the school or in the field, she devotes time to her husband of 25 years as well as her kids and their many extracurricular activities. Over the years, she has been an active parent volunteer, supporting her children as they’ve pursued everything from dance to acting to performing as part of a color guard team.
Does she ever find time to sleep? Perez laughs at the question.
“Who needs sleep? I have coffee,” she says.
For more information on the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center visit https://adulteducation.lusd.org/.
Written by Jimmy Flynn
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | Careers in Health Care – High School |
