By Elizabeth Shipman | Observer Contributor
Photo by Cheyne Ordonio
MWCC obtained a grant for the Rx Program from the United States Department of Education. Dr. Andrea Wallen, chairperson and professor in the Department of Nursing at Worcester State University, said via email, “MWCC is fortunate to have this grant; it is a wonderful opportunity for MWCC to provide additional support for science majors.”
The Rx Program falls under the name of TRiO programs, wrote Sandy Tavares, an Rx Program counselor at MWCC. TRiO is government funded with a purpose of providing help for disadvantaged students, according to their website. A few types of TRiO programs are Educational Talent Search, Gear-Up, and Student Support Services. The Rx Program is specifically for Health Science majors, including Nursing. It provides financial aid to these students and assists students in preparing for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) and TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) tests. Currently, there are 110 students enrolled in this program at MWCC.
Karen Riseman, a second year nursing student in the Rx Program, said via email, “This program has been very helpful to myself and the other 28 nursing students in the program.” She said her clinical experience has been the biggest benefit to her education, “It is one thing to read and hear about a concept, but to actually be a part of a patient’s care that involves all the concepts we have been studying is huge.”
Riseman said the biggest lesson she has “learned through this entire process is no matter how difficult things get, take a breath and stick with it and do not give up.” She wrote that she is blessed to have wonderful classmates that work well together, “We all look out for each other and I will miss them all terribly.”
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