​American Career College Massage Therapy Students Offer Services to Mark National Nurses Week

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Los Angeles—May 14—American Career College’s Massage Therapy students put their skills to work during National Nurse’s Week by offering free 15-minute massages to nurses and other personnel at St. Vincent Medical Center. The event enabled ACC to strengthen its relationship with St. Vincent, and the massage therapy students gained much needed experience honing their technical, communication, assessment, and networking skills. Some MT students gained new clients; ACC’s Surgical Technology and Vocational Nursing programs assisted in the event.

“This was a win-win for all participants and a way for us to pay tribute to nurses in our own way during their week of national recognition,” said Charles Celeste, Director of ACC’s Massage Therapy program. “It was gratifying for our students to be able to give them a 10-15 minute escape from their busy, stressful work.”

Each year, National Nurse’s Week celebrates the profession and all the work nurses do. The week begins on May 6, National Nurses Day, and runs through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

“It was a privilege for our Massage Therapy students to be a part of National Nurse’s Week,” said Tom McNamara, President of American Career College. “These kinds of experiences help them to graduate with confidence as they prepare to enter a dynamic profession projected to grow rapidly over the next several years.”

ACC’s massage therapy students enroll in a 720-hour modular program that encompasses multiple facets of the massage industry to prepare than as entry-level therapists. Students learn Swedish, deep tissue, and Shiatsu methods; spa and sports treatments; non-traditional bodywork and treatments for special needs populations; and business, ethics and professional training. The program teaches anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and pathophysiology as they relate to massage, in order to provide students with a basic understanding of the body, how dysfunctions occur, and how these relate to each subject.

About American Career College
American Career College (ACC) is a health care educator with four campuses located in Southern California. Founded by David Pyle (www.davidapyle.com) over 35 years ago, ACC offers students a comprehensive array of high-quality educational programs which prepare graduates for a challenging and rewarding career in health care. For more information, visit www.americancareercollege.edu.

Contacts
American Career College
Celia Ffrench
Vice President of Marketing
949-783-4080

Raymond Mirzabegian: One Person, Making a Change and Making a Difference

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Life is full of teachable moments. Three years ago, optician Raymond Mirzabegian, an optical dispensing instructor at American Career College’s Los Angeles campus, mentioned to his class that he had an epileptic child.

It was just an aside in a lesson on eye muscles and seizures, but after class, student after student came up to tell him about some instance of epilepsy in their family. Those conversations gave Mirzabegian—who has been involved in epilepsy awareness since the birth of Emily, his 9-year-old daughter—an idea that has turned into an annual classroom seminar.

“Every March 26, which is Epilepsy Awareness Day, I set aside a half-hour,” says Mirzabegian. “I ask students, ‘Suppose the person next to you were to have a seizure? What would you do?’”

Most people, he says, are unaware that the best First Aid is to roll the person onto their side, cushion their head, make sure they can breathe—and then time them. “Seizures often look very scary, but they’re not that bad if they’re less than five minutes, and often the person will get back up and continue with that they were doing,” he says.

That information and more was presented last month to some four dozen faculty and students on ACC’s Los Angeles campus, where Mirzabegian’s Etalk has become an annual observance: “We all wore purple in honor of Epilepsy Awareness Day,” says Kari Cheevers, ACC program director for optical dispensing. “It was phenomenal.”

“Obviously, this is a medically oriented college, and any First Aid awareness is good,” says Mirzabegian. But, he added, so is awareness of a neurological disorder that, according to the Epilepsy Foundation, affects some 2.2 million Americans and is more prevalent than autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease put together.

“Every time I do the session, students come up to tell me their personal stories,” he says. “It’s a very common condition, but rarely spoken about.”

ACC Massage Therapy Program Participates in World Taiji & Qigong Day!

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On April 27th, 2013, ACC Massage Therapy instructor, Deborah Cangialosi and two students, Yul Ochoa and Jayden Sillert from ACC’s Ontario campus took part in World Taiji & Qigong Day by performing free massages. This free community event was to promote awareness of the profound health benefits of these traditional Chinese practices. Taiji & Qigong offer many physically, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits!

Wayne A. Walls: One Person, Making a Change and Making a Difference​

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It started three years ago with a call for assistance. Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center was doing a free cardiac screening, and needed help.

“A local football player had died at the end of a game because of an underlying heart condition,” recalls Wayne A. Walls, director of clinical education in the respiratory therapy program at American Career College’s Orange County campus. “It was tragic, and the hospital was reaching out to the high school. George Garcia, the hospital’s regional director of cardiopulmonary, asked me to send some of our students to help do EKGs and gather patient information. It was so successful that it became an annual event.”

Walls says that outreach, in response to the 2009 death of 17-year-old Kevin Telles, inspired both him and his students, and left him wondering: What if volunteerism could be built into the curriculum?

“That sense of community service is a value we try to instill in students as being part of a noble profession,” Walls says. “Also the job market is very competitive—employers tell me that when they see community service on an application, they pull those students to the top of the deck.”

Since that first event, he says, he has started each 10-week term by circulating a list of a half-dozen or more volunteer opportunities in health care. Students can use them, he says, to earn extra credit or augment clinical hours.

“We’ve gone out with the mobile health van at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Long Beach, and to health fairs at the Westminster Community Center, we do activities with the American Association of Respiratory Care and the California Association of Respiratory Care.” Most recently, Walls’ students volunteered at the American Lung Association Fight for Air Climb in Los Angeles and rallied support for legislation curbing secondhand smoke in apartment buildings.

“Ultimately, it’s all about the patients—it’s a great feeling to help someone who has difficulty breathing,” he says.​

ACC OC’s Optical Dispensing Program Volunteers With The Illumination Foundation!

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From April 11th-April 14th, Optical Dispensing students from American Career College’s Orange County campus joined the Illumination Foundation/Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps to participate in a four day event serving the homeless and children in the Orange County Area! Sixteen students from ACC’s Orange County campus volunteered in this event to dispense eyeglasses and assist optometrists with eye exams for those in need.

The foundations acknowledged our ACC students for their professionalism and were very grateful for their contribution. The students enjoyed the event as well, and gained valuable experience working with others in their field and providing optical services to the public.  The Illumination Foundation was excited to invite ACC students to return for future events and we are looking forward to partnering this organization in the future!

Illumination Foundation