Part-time position becomes full-time career through Gateway
Cina Douglas’ cleaning business ebbed and flowed over the years, generally following the economy. When the economy was good, so was business, and when the economy dipped, so did Cina’s profits.
“The first thing people cut back on is cleaning services,” she says.
It was during the tough times that Cina turned to a part-time job working with a patient in a physical therapy setting to help bring in extra money – and then turned to Gateway to make it a full-time career.
“At some point, I realized this was what I really wanted to do,” says Cina.
“I was doing this part-time, but realized if I wanted to work in a clinic, I would need to go back and get a degree. I needed to go to Gateway.”
Cina enrolled at Gateway and graduated from the Physical Therapist Assistant program – and is now employed full-time at a Kenosha-area provider.
“The instructors were very personal and concerned with our success. There was a lot of hands-on techniques learning, and I thought they did a great job with us.
“They even brought in human resources professionals from health care to talk to us about our cover letter, résumés and did some mock interviews with us and offered some interview techniques. Gateway prepared us well.”
Instructors guided students to give them the best possibility to secure their PTA licensing, including providing a short review course to make sure they were ready to take the licensing exam. “All of that was valuable to me,” says Cina.
Cina says she continued to operate her cleaning business while she earned her degree, and Gateway’s flexible class schedule and online course offerings helped her to take her courses within her schedule.
Cina says her work now is steady and the pay and benefits are great.
“I have more stability now,” she says. “I am doing something I enjoy, more than just working for a living.”