Student Scholarships Ensue from Partnership
Two annual Gurnick-RadNet Scholarships were awarded Thursday, June 18, 2020, at Gurnick Medical School’s Sacramento campus. The award, established in 2019, seeks to reward “RadNet employees in good standing, who have demonstrated the desire, commitment, and ability to further their education, “ said Chris Gordon, VP of Operations for RadNet Organization’s Northern division.
The 2019 Gurnick-Radnet educational scholarship recipient was Christina Sanchez, a patient Services representative who has worked with RadNet for over 13 years in the Sacramento office. This year, she enrolled in Gurnick’s Associate of Science Radiologic Technology program and began coursework on July 6 at the Sacramento campus. Sanchez voiced her desire to enroll in the program because she became “fascinated with how the human body works” as part of her radiology fieldwork. Sanchez loves knowing that the radiographs she produces “help diagnose patients and get them one step closer to recovery.” Of the award, Sanchez remarked, “This opportunity is incredibly life-changing for me. It is allowing me to further my education and build a future with my husband. I am so lucky to have RadNet supporting me, as they have throughout the years, and lucky to have been selected.”
The 2020 Gurnick-Radnet educational scholarship recipient was Kelli Oberto, a Patient Services representative and Mammography tech aide. After two years working with RadNet, Oberto was nominated for the scholarship and is now enrolling in the Associate of Science in Radiologic Technology program at the Concord campus. Oberto stated she wanted to go into the program because she has “always been interested in the medical field and the human body” and loves to “take pictures.” As “an X-Ray tech, I will be able to be involved in both daily.” Oberto’s overall dream is to help her community stay healthy and happy. Of the award, she said, “I was on the waiting list at a local community college for over seven years, when my manager pulled me into the office [and] asked how I felt about going to Gurnick Academy. I began crying when she said she nominated me. It was honestly a dream come true for me. I am currently in my second quarter of the program, and I love it. I can’t wait until I can be a licensed tech working in the field. I wake up each morning, excited to be learning more and taking X-rays at my clinical site.”
“This is a mutually-rewarding partnership,” said Gordon of the award. The scholarship provides deserving individuals with an all-expense-paid experience, covering tuition, books, and fees upon full acceptance. The Associate of Science in Radiologic Technology Program, a two-year curriculum, costs about $59,412 as of November 4th, 2020.
Burke Malin, Gurnick Chief Operating Officer and facilitator of the award, noted, “More than 60 percent of students are offered and accept full-time employment at their residential clinical sites.” According to Malin, work-study partnerships, such as this scholarship offered exclusively to RadNet employees, promote both the students and healthcare facilities that host them. The student gains experience and access to positions formerly not available. The clinical facility has a chance to review the skill sets and work ethics of the student externs. By tacking on HR, operations, and other facets of their business, the clinical site streamlines future hiring by replicating an informal onboarding process.
The need for the scholarship was born about four to five years ago as Malin was accessing clinical partnerships. Believing this is a template for collaboration with additional partners, the Gurnick-RadNet scholarship offering goes far to make clinical training more efficient and cost-effective for Gurnick Academy’s students, said Malin. When the concept came to fruition, he was more than happy to help confer the two scholarships, along with Chris Gordon and Norman Hames, President and COO of RadNet’s Westcoast Division.
“Through these relationships, we plan to duplicate this process, as the opportunities present themselves, opening up more clinical sites, in turn facilitating the creation of new programs that meet real-world needs of partners like RadNet,” summarized Malin.
Gurnick Academy’s mission is to offer quality allied-health and nursing programs that integrate professional skills, career-focused education, and hands-on practical experience by empowering students to develop and achieve their personal and career goals.
For more information regarding Gurnick Academy’s Radiologic Technology program, click here.
To see the award’s ceremony videos, see the links below:
Burke Malin on the partnership:
Norman Hames on the partnership:
Christina Sanchez, scholarship recipient:
Kellie Oberto, scholarship recipient:
