Linda Smith, president of Four-D College
(COLTON, Calif.) In California the unemployment rate is expected to surge, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast, a highly respected gauge of what is happening statewide.
The Anderson Forecast states while California is at a record of 12.3-percent unemployment rate, (and the Inland Empire hovers at just over 14 percent according to the California Employment Development Department) the rate will surge higher in the future.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are a number of career fields that will be hiring new workers in the next seven to ten years and a good share of those jobs are in the health care profession. The lion’s share of those jobs are expected to go to people who have certificates of training.
Four –D College provides the needed training and has a job placement program with a good success rate for placing people after they have finished their training.
Jessica Hsu, Career Development Representative at the Colton campus explained that each student is provided lifetime job placement service. The Colton school has an 82 percent job placement success rate, she said, and there is a 75 percent placement success rate in Victorville.
One student who graduated from Four-D College and found a rewarding career as a Licensed Vocational Nurse is Juliet Bodden. She explained that the placement department did a great job in helping her to obtain just the right job in the healthcare field as a licensed vocational nurse.
“Four-D College Career Placement Advisor Patricia Salgado helped me to put together a resume and then continued to submit my resume even after I was working until I found the job I have now,” Bodden said.
Four-D College worked quickly after Bodden graduated to get her into the right job, “I graduated in June then in July I got my license and within a week and a half I got the job I have now.”
Bodden explained Four-D College helped her to realize her dream as a health care professional. “I was in a job working for a distribution center, I hated; it was misery. After graduation from high school I thought about being a nurse and sort of threw it out the window My husband encouraged me to pursue it, and so I did.”
The experience Bodden had with Four-D College was so positive she has recommended the school to her friends. “The job placement service is great; they offered everything I needed. They are there to help and they mentored me through the whole process and made it so easy all I had to do was show up.”
Four-D College is dedicated to helping people enter a rewarding career, one that is recession proof because there is always a need for good health care professionals. Four-D College offers training in the health care field, where people who enjoy working with others, possess a caring attitude and desire to be a healthcare professional can find a rewarding career.
Four-D has two campuses in the Inland Empire devoted to helping people obtain the training necessary. There is a campus in Colton and one in Victorville.
The college was started in 1992 as a place to prepare students to become highly marketable health care professionals. The San Bernardino Employment and Training Agencies (SBETA) and the San Bernardino Private Industry Council have named the school the Outstanding School of the Year.
Providing assistance to find a job as a health care professional is something that Four-D College does with great success.
“We help the student develop their resume and cover letter, and we assist with helping a proactive student to find a job,” Hsu said. Anytime a graduate wants to come back to Four-D College we will provide them job help. We do a job search package with each student.”
President of the College Linda L. Smith explained that Four-D College is committed to preparing students to meet the challenges in the health care field through a program that is carefully designed around specific objectives that must be met to have a qualified graduate. “The lesson plans the faculty use in the classroom consider the job market and what the needs are of the employer,” Smith said.
A specially designed advisory board consisting of employers in the field holds regular meetings with the faculty where a thorough review of the onsite curriculum is done.
“Our goal is to determine whether the trends happening in an individual’s specific employment field is up to date, and whether the tools and equipment we are using is the latest technology to ensure that students are receiving the best training,” Smith said.
Students who attend Four-D College can choose several different health care professions. Education programs are conducted in dental assistant, medical assistant, medical billing/coding, massage therapy, pharmacy technician and vocational nursing.
Flexibility is also part of the training as students can take morning, afternoon or evening classes and courses can be completed from between nine months and 18 months, depending on the area of study pursued.
Smith said, “The education received is a holistic approach where the individual gets outside training in the community. They receive hands on training in the field outside the classroom in their field of study.”
“Four-D is different as a private Christian school. We deal with the academic in a holistic sense the mind, body and spirit,” Smith said. “We pray for the students to be successful and that they can overcome the challenges which interfere with their education.” The college begins each day and ends each day with prayer.
Four-D College has a preschool program for 2 to 5 year olds, which is also open to the public.
For students who qualify financial aid is available. For those who did not complete high school a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) program approved by the state is also available.
San Bernardino County Schools Superintendent Dr Gary Thomas acknowledged the GED program because of its interactive model for students. “We put together a program that provides a mentor for students getting their GED, so they can be successful, and we have a 95-percent passing rate,” Smith said.
The only requirements students are asked to bring with them to Four-D College is a strong desire to achieve, a determination to follow through the process, a drive to an energy level needed to
maintain consistent efforts to accomplish the program, and the ability to deliver the desired goals for success. President Smith explained that when a student brings those qualities to their training it’s a win-win for everybody.
Four-D College provides education in the growing health care field at locations in Colton and Victorville. It offers programs in medical assistant, medical billing and coding, dental assistant, massage therapy, pharmacy technician and vocational nursing.
New courses begin monthly at Four-D College and courses are offered in the morning, afternoon and evening. Call (909) 783-9331 or (760) 962-1325 for more information or go to www.4DCollege.com.
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