Caliah Mason empowered to influence healthcare change with AlamoONLINE

Caliah was a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in the intensive care unit when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She saw the devastating impact on healthcare workers—nurses fulfilling double shifts and mandatory overtime. These experiences ignited her determination to find a solution.

After a year-long break from college tending to Veteran patients with daily living skills such as feeding and grooming, she decided the time was right for her return to college.

However, Caliah wondered,

Could Alamo Colleges help her transition to a career that empowered her to address the challenges nurses faced during the pandemic?

She remembered her work's substantial impact on her patients when they returned to the hospital to thank her for her care. Her field experience helped her decide her future career path in the healthcare field and pursue a degree online in Healthcare Administration at Palo Alto College (PAC).

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Caliah described her transition from the nursing field at St. Philip’s College into Healthcare Administration at Palo Alto College as a win-win situation.

“My transition to Palo Alto College has been very easy because, in my case, I have nursing classes that I’ve taken at St.Philip’s College that are also pre-requisites for the Healthcare Administration degree,” she shared.

Caliah’s days are extremely busy, so PAC helped provide her with the necessary career progression. Her advisor opened a new world of possibilities for her, which provided her the opportunity to compete for administrative roles.

The flexibility of her classes was crucial to her success in completing her degree. Caliah took advantage of the mini-mester classes online, accelerating her graduation date.

Caliah shared that her classes gave her the leadership skills and the confidence she needed to address the problems she perceived among her peers. She is grateful for her education at Palo Alto College, and the business skills she gained to talk to her managers and address the issues the nurses in her unit were having.

Caliah is expected to graduate with her associate degree in the Fall of 2023 and is currently working towards earning Google Project Management Professional Certificate to elevate her resume when applying for entry-level Healthcare Project Management positions.

Caliah wants her story to serve as an inspiration for others who want to advance their degree. She describes her college experience as a positive one and is grateful for the relationships she has built with her classmates, as she shares, “They definitely keep my head in the game…help my motivation to really apply myself and grasp the knowledge.”