New Workforce Rx With Futuro Health Podcast!

Listen to Guest Jamie Fall From Upskill America at the Aspen Institute

We’ve launched a new podcast! If you are looking for insights into the future of work, future of care, future of higher education and alternative education-to-work models, then listen in to Workforce Rx with Futuro Health.

Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan hosts the podcast, which features interviews with leaders and innovators who help us understand the ways in which the health industry is keeping up with the speed of change and how workers are shifting into new job roles and picking up new skills. Traditional approaches no longer suffice. We will need to draw on our collective ingenuity to uncover ways to develop work, workers and economic opportunity.

We have recorded four episodes, so far, including “Invest in a Culture of Learning,” featuring Jaime Fall, director of Upskill America at the Aspen Institute.

The expanded use of telehealth to provide patient care, brought on by the global pandemic, is expected to continue well past COVID-19. To help meet the continued demand for virtual care, Futuro Health has teamed up with California Primary Care Association (CPCA) and the University of Delaware to launch a 15-week fully online Advanced Telehealth Coordinator Certificate pilot program this month.

The self-paced program is well-suited for working adults. To be eligible for the program, applicants must have three or more years of experience in their role and/or in healthcare.

“This pandemic has shown how quickly the necessary skill sets for a job can change,” said Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health. “Employers and individuals are equally challenged to keep skills updated in a COVID-19 environment that is fast-changing. Our telehealth program will help provide relief for employers and workers delivering virtual care and at the same time help reach more patients in need of care from a distance.”

The Advanced Telehealth Coordinator pilot launched Sept. 21 and runs through Dec. 28. Currently, the pilot is for individuals referred by Futuro Health partners and is tuition-free in 2020, with students paying only miscellaneous fees. Futuro Health currently is accepting applications for the next class, which begins in February.

Futuro Health’s English Readiness for Allied Health course provides learners with the relevant English vocabulary and practice needed to be successful in future healthcare programs and their career. So when Yazmin R. heard about Futuro Health from a family member, she jumped at the opportunity.

Yazmin had always wanted a career in the medical field, but she needed to improve her English. She had been practicing English with her co-workers at the drugstore where she works part time but wanted a more structured way of learning the language. Yazmin had the distinction of becoming the first student enrolled in the course, offered through Futuro Health partner Voxy, when it launched in August.

Since then, she has been in constant contact with her navigator team – this is the support network Futuro Health has in place to help students throughout their educational journey – which helped her work through tech issues and provided other guidance, including tips related to time-management and study habits.

Yazmin is pre-admitted to begin Futuro Health's Medical Assistant program in the winter.

And Raquel M. is right behind her. Raquel is enrolled in the English Readiness for Allied Health course that launches in October. She wants to become a social worker to give back to a community that has given her much, and becoming bilingual in English and Spanish will help her reach her goal.

She’s overcome challenges to prepare for the English course. Raquel did not have a computer, which she needed to take the online course. She worked with her navigator, who offered up suggestions for how she might obtain a computer, to resolve the issue. She’s now ready to start the English course – and get on a path to a new career!

“I feel so fortunate and blessed,” Raquel said. “I’ve had this goal for many years.”

English Readiness for Allied Health can be taken as a stand-alone course and paired with a certificate program.

In her role as a Futuro Health navigator, Cynthia Brinkman helps students shape their educational goals. Many want to become medical assistants, others are interested in becoming case managers or patient advocates. No matter the goal, Cynthia helps students map out the steps to achieve it.

She has been in the coaching field for more than 14 years. That includes her current role as a lead student success specialist and coach at InsideTrack, a leading national student success nonprofit. While Cynthia is employed by InsideTrack, a Futuro Health partner, her work is with Futuro Health students. During her career, she has partnered with more than 2,000 traditional and professional adult learners in their journey toward graduation and beyond.

Cynthia balances her time between talking with students about learning English so they can move ahead in their career and educational goals and talking to Futuro Health Jump Start students who are taking prerequisite courses to enroll in Futuro Health programs.

“The ultimate outcome I'm hoping for is that students not only start their educational journey but complete it and come out on the other side with greater tools to build their career and life,” Cynthia said. “In doing so, I also hope that students get a sense of empowerment and self-accomplishment, having seen that they did actually finish what they set out to do.”

Cynthia tells her students big goals can be taken on by breaking them down into smaller steps. She loves when she can point out to a student how they are changing their narrative, such as when a student passes their first Jump Start course after having struggled academically in the past.

One of the first things she asks her students is to identify why they decided to start their educational journey because that will help them keep going during challenging times.

“In just answering that simple question, I can help them find the fuel and motivation that they need to get to the finish line,” Cynthia explained.

For students interested in enrolling in a Futuro Health program, Cynthia wants to assure them they have support along the way, through Futuro Health’s navigators. She encourages would-be students to remember why they care about taking on this goal and let that drive them to take on the first step, then the next and the next.

“Before you know it, you'll be graduating with not only a new certificate, but a new job potential, a new life, and ultimately, a whole new story to tell about yourself,” Cynthia said. “You'll never know what you're capable of if you don't at least try.”