LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), a Hispanic-serving institution, was recently awarded a $1.2 million grant to support internationally trained professionals through its NYC Welcome Back Center (NYCWBC) project, according to a news release.

 

NYCWBC’s Project to Support Internationally Trained Healthcare Professionals will help participants restart or continue their career paths, build language skills and more.

 

Awarded by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the grant will support the Project’s mission to diversify the health care field and provide learning opportunities to immigrant health care workers in New York City.

 

“We are very grateful to receive the generous support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation," said the project’s director, Paula Da Silva-Michelin, EdD, in the release. "The center encounters many health care professionals whose English level is too low to participate successfully in health care training programs leading to certification and employment. We hope to help these participants qualify and transition successfully from these programs to the health care field.”

 

For many immigrants with professional health care experience, limited English proficiency is a significant barrier to quality jobs, according to Da Silva-Michelin.

 

The Project will enroll eligible participants in introductory or intermediate English language courses to help them succeed in future health care trainings and prepare them to return to their respective fields.

 

“There is a strong need for more lower-level English language courses contextualized to the health care sector that will prepare these [internationally trained professionals] to succeed in higher-level bridge and credentialing courses,” Da Silva-Michelin said.

 

For more, click #College. There, you’ll see headlines such as “$2.8M Grant to Expand Educational Opportunities for Latino Students,” “CVS Health Foundation Grant Expands Pharmaceutical Opportunities for South Texas Students” and “Molloy University Awarded $3.5M Grant to Support Minority STEM Students.”