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Success Stories

No More Layoffs

Sonia Elliott, a 2006 graduate from the Knoxville Campus with a medical assisting degree and a minor in medical billing and coding, has a one word answer for her job description: “Everything,” she says without a hint of sarcasm. “I check patients in, I check them out…schedule appointments, vitals, take blood, referrals, I do some of the billing and coding…do drug screenings…return-to-work physicals…that’s about it.”

What she likes most about her job, though, is the very fact that it exists. Before enrolling at National, Sonia worked at factory and warehouse jobs that she was laid off from – twice. “I was tired of getting laid off,” said the mother of three. “I wanted to do something where I wasn’t getting laid off all the time, that’s why I chose medical assisting.”

“I wanted to do something where I wasn’t getting laid off all the time…”

She truly enjoyed the family atmosphere at National’s Knoxville Campus. “I loved everything about it, but I loved my instructors,” she says. “They were really down-to-earth, I could go to them and talk to them about anything; it was family-oriented.” Sonia also embarked upon her education during an important period for her family as well. “My daughter graduated (from high school) when I graduated (from National),” she adds. “It was really cool!”

Three days after completing her degree, she began her new job as a medical assistant at a busy occupational health clinic. It’s a job she loves–and a career she knows won’t fall victim to the next layoff.