In the spring of 2020, amid widespread social justice protests across the U.S. and beyond, Adisa Cartwright felt she needed to do something to make UCLA Extension’s Medical Assistant Program more accessible to students from all backgrounds. As an African American woman and the head of the program for UCLA Health, Cartwright noticed that very few graduates looked like her.
“It started with me picking up the phone to Los Angeles Urban League and saying, ‘Hey, I run this program. Can you help me recruit? Can you help me diversify?’ And they said they would do even more – they would help fund tuition,” Cartwright said.
Though students in the certificate program already received funding for a portion of their tuition through UCLA Health and UCLA’s School of Medicine, Cartwright said, the cost was still prohibitive for some. Cartwright’s calls led private donors and community organizations to offer grants that eliminated the last financial hurdle for many students, opening the door to careers in medicine that previously seemed unattainable.
For Cartwright, going above and beyond for her students is all in a day’s work. In addition to overseeing administration of the program, over the years she has taught nearly every class in the curriculum and built relationships with almost all of the program’s more than 100 alumni, helping many of them land jobs immediately after receiving their certificates.
Cartwright has been a part of the Medical Assistant Program almost since its inception. Launched in 2017 as a joint effort between UCLA Health and UCLA Extension, the program was originally designed to help UCLA Health identify more qualified and well-trained medical assistants. A year later, Cartwright, a board-certified registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing, was asked to step in with an eye toward helping students gain a better understanding of the clinical aspects of the profession.
With courses in medical terminology, pharmacology, anatomy and more, the program helps students prepare for the National Certified Medical Assistants exam with the goal of placing graduates into positions as medical assistants at UCLA Health hospitals and facilities.
One former student is Ariel Taylor, who was working as an administrative assistant for UCLA Health when she enrolled in the program. Taylor knew she wanted to be a doctor, and enrolled to gain clinical experience before fully committing to medical school. As a UCLA Health employee, the program was easy to include in her schedule, and she quickly transitioned to a medical assistant position after graduating. Now studying for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), Taylor said she believes her experience as a medical assistant will help her application for medical school.
“I am more well-rounded,” Taylor said. “I have experience applying my medical knowledge, like drawing blood and doing EKGs.”
For Cartwright, students like Taylor represent a vital piece of the medical profession. Medical assistants are often the first people to engage with patients, completing intakes, running blood pressure and other tests on patient vitals, and often administering vaccines or taking blood. Studying to become a certified medical assistant
generally takes one or two years, depending on the type of program, followed by additional clinical work in a medical office. For Cartwright, one of the benefits of the UCLA Extension program is that students are able to complete their clinical hours while taking classes.
“When our students graduate and are looking for jobs, they’ve already worked in our clinics and are competent in the UCLA way,” Cartwright said.
That familiarity is a large part of why more than 80% of graduates accept jobs at UCLA Health after they complete their certification exam. Cartwright’s students have gone on to work in top cardiology clinics and become phlebotomists. Others, like recent alum Brittani Ables, have used the program as a springboard into the medical field. After attending a medical magnet high school, where she interned at UCLA Health, Ables was sure a career in medicine was in her future. Seeing a friend post online about the UCLA Extension program, she saw an opportunity to see if clinical work would be the right fit.
Completing the certificate in 2021, Ables took a job at UCLA Health as a medical assistant, where she enjoyed working in a clinical setting. Soon after, Ables applied to nursing schools and has since graduated with a master’s degree in nursing from Johns Hopkins University. She recently started in a new position as a cardiovascular intensive care nurse at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.
Ables is one of the many students who directly benefited from Cartwright’s support. Thanks to Cartwright’s phone and email campaign in 2020, Ables received a grant through SoLa Impact, a community organization that covered a portion of her tuition, eliminating out of pocket tuition costs.
“Adisa is so personable, and if I need someone to listen or need advice, she is there,” Ables said. “She’s very generous and authentic, and she wants everybody to succeed.”
Cartwright also encouraged Ables to continue on to nursing school, she said, writing her a letter of recommendation. When Ables got ready to move across the country to study, Cartwright even attended her going away party.
“I am proud of all of my students,” said Cartwright. “It is a joy to watch them succeed."This article is adapted from the UCLAx fall 2024 issue.