Avery Mondragon: Hi, my name is Avery Mondragon. I'm currently a rehab tech in San Juan Regional's Outpatient Rehab Department, and I want to talk a little bit about the education benefits available at San Juan Regional, how I have utilized them and plan to utilize them in the future, and why I think you should utilize them too.

I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders back in December. And I am starting a master's program in August, so that in a little over two years, I will be a certified speech language pathologist. This journey all started with SJRMC back when I was in high school. Ally McGuire, one of the rehab coordinators, gave me the opportunity to job shadow her. And through that experience, I knew this was the career path for me.

I started working as a rehab tech in college. SJRMC was so flexible in allowing me to work on my school breaks and allowing me to get some additional observation time and more exposure to the rehab world as a whole. One of my favorite opportunities that I got during my employment here was helping with video swallow studies in radiology. I realized that the swallowing therapy aspect of speech pathology is really interesting to me, giving me a direction that I may pursue in grad school. I have really felt encouraged and supported in continuing my education by every SLP that I have encountered, by my coordinators and by my coworkers. I also feel that having this position on my resume was likely a huge reason I got into five of the six programs I applied to back in January.

One thing I learned more recently is that San Juan Regional also has financial benefits such as scholarships available to full-time employees. The ones I know about personally are the auxiliary scholarship for book reimbursement and the tuition assistance program. I would really encourage everyone to ask what benefits may exist for you.

Maybe you have a child with an interest in healthcare and shadowing would be beneficial to them as it was to me. Maybe you want to get another degree and open up more opportunities for you to change lives. Maybe you are in a leadership position and you would like to learn how to be a better leader. No matter where you are in your life and your career, there is something for you and we all want to continue to learn and grow as caretakers. And I can tell you from experience that SJRMC will be there to celebrate your accomplishments at the end of it all, whether you got a new certification or you became a doctor or completed a course.

One fun thing that I got to do recently was go to the education breakfast. Many people there had recently completed a leadership course. Some people got new degrees. And the hospital threw this breakfast to celebrate all of that.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you feel encouraged to pursue further education opportunities and equipped with the knowledge of some ways San Juan Regional can help you reach those goals.