As a new high school graduate, Teara Horton of Goldsboro was facing an uncertain future when she first walked through the doors of Wayne Community College. Ten years later, she exudes confidence as a medical assistant, knowing she chose the right path.
Horton was unsure what educational journey to take at the age of 18. Her mother encouraged her to attend WCC, and she took general education classes while figuring out her long-term goals. With an interest in the medical field, she became curious about the College’s Medical Assisting program and enrolled in 2015.
A fast-growing field
Medical assisting is a fast-growing field where individuals work in the administrative, clinical, and laboratory areas of healthcare. Professionals in this field can expect to find work in medical offices, clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities.
WCC’s accredited Medical Assisting program offers a two-year degree and certificate, and graduates of the degree program are eligible to take an exam to become certified medical assistants.
“Medical Assisting at WCC is great. When you walk out of those doors, you will know how to do your job,” said Horton.
Personal and practical
The program gives students hands-on clinical practice with the concepts they learn in class. Students are prepared for everything from knowing how to draw blood and take blood pressure to how to work alongside doctors.
As a student in WCC’s Medical Assisting program, Horton remembers learning the importance of kindness and good bedside manner to go along with the more clinical aspects of the job. “Patients are coming in because they don’t feel well,” she said. “Even if you’re having a rough day, you can still be kind and listen to them.”
Working toward success
After graduating from the program in 2017, Horton became a certified medical assistant. She now works at UNC Orthopedics in Goldsboro, performing bone density tests and answering phones. Being knowledgeable in both clinical and administrative spaces helps Horton better understand how the medical office works as a whole.
Horton recalls the stress of working in healthcare during the COVID pandemic when the new normal was filled with temperature checks and mask mandates. “It was tough because the rules were changing every week. It was challenging, but if I can get through that, I can get through anything,” she shared.
With her self-described “go big or go home” mindset, Horton added to her responsibilities as a full-time working mother by taking online classes at East Carolina University beginning in August of 2020. She graduated in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management.
A leader in the making
WCC Medical Assisting Program Director/Instructor Heather Odom believes that Horton has “found her calling” in her current role. “As a student, Teara was a hard worker and very dependable,” said Odom. “My current students love working with her at their clinical practicum.”
Horton hopes to step into more of a leadership role in the future, using her medical assisting experience and interest in management to help others become efficient and kind workers. “I never thought that August that I started at WCC would lead to this,” Horton said. “My experience there pushed me and showed me what I can do.”
For more information about WCC’s Medical Assisting program, visit waynecc.edu/medical or contact Odom at 919-739-6782 or hmodom@waynecc.edu.