CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new free program being offered at Del Mar College can help get you into the healthcare industry or even steer you toward becoming an EMT.
The program was funded with a quarter-million dollar grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and began this spring.
3NEWS spoke with one student, Cheryl Brockway, who came to this country working on a cruise ship, and now wants a better career to benefit her family.
Brockway is a 46-year-old wife and mother of three who moved here from the Philippines and was here for Hurricane Harvey.
After being a physical therapist in her home in the Philippines, she got married, had a family and settled for a job at a post office here in Corpus Christi.
"I worked through Harvey," she said. "I was pregnant during Harvey; I worked till the day I gave birth with my youngest. So then after that, I said I want to go back to school, I still want to go back. I want to be in the medical profession."
Brockway said the fact that the program is free through the statewide grant was a bonus.
This month she will have complete the first six-month course of the Emergency Medical Responder and Health Care program.
"For me it's exciting," Brockway said. "I already want to go back to school, so when I started its like, it's exciting for me. So I really was into it."
She will continue in the second six-month course that starts later this month.
Brockway 's mother was there as 3NEWS completed the interview. In limited English she told us how proud she was of her daughter.
The Assistant Director for Healthcare in Continuing Education, Liana Joslin, told 3NEWS the course has been widely popular with 275 people expressing an interest in applying for the next session.
"We had a large amount of students who were interested applicants applied for the program and currently we have over 45 students who have completed the course and are now entering the EMR program," Joslin said.
Because of the heavy interest, the school has already decided to repeat the first phase of the course this month for a new batch of students.
"There's a huge shortage of medical responders and medical professionals in general, so this grant will help get those students engaged and into that career path," she said.
Space is limited so go to Del Mar's Home page and look for the QR code to apply. You can also click here to find the application.