Page 56 - Careers & Stuff 2021

MARGARET SLOAN
During COVID, Margaret Sloan spent a lot of time at home in Milford with her husband. They had retired there in 2014; he’d been a police officer in Baltimore City, and she’d been a stationary engineer for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. She’d taken a job at the Hallmark store, but had been laid off when the pandemic hit.
“We were retired and we were
just sitting around and, in the end,
it wasn’t for me at this time in my
life,” Sloan says. She saw an opening for the Certified Clinical Medical Administrative Assistant training program through the Workforce Development and Community Education Division at Delaware Technical Community College and jumped at the chance. “I was not even sure if I would be able to get into the course, but I did, and it was exciting.
It was a lot of work — total career change,” Sloan says. “I never expected to start working again in a career job, but I did.”
As classes were about to start in November 2020, Sloan had emergency surgery. Still, she showed up for orientation two days later. “I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from getting
into this program,” she says. “It was a
lot of long nights — very long nights.” The first phase of the course focused on medical administrative assistant training; after Christmas, it shifted into clinical instruction. Then, Sloan passed national exams in both areas.
By the second day of her clinical rotation at Clinic by the Sea in Lewes, she was offered a job. Now, Sloan,
58, works full-time at the cardio- vascular clinic. “Most of it,” she says, “is running patients all day, interviewing
machine that a patient wears for a few days at a time.
“I enjoy helping the patients. I enjoy meeting new people,” Sloan says. “And even going through school, it was really nice being part of that little team that we had — it was a small class, but we all made friends. A lot of work, but we
and boredom that came along with
the pandemic, she notes. And, she’s feeling energized by her new career, which — in terms of the type of work — is a huge departure from her previous one, where she was responsible for maintenance and operation of boilers, air-conditioners, and other aspects of the physical plant at public schools.
“I’m thinking, I must be nuts at my age, getting into another career, but it has its rewards, just going in there and meeting the people. The patients are great. And it’s not always standing, it’s not always sitting, it’s a little bit of both,” Sloan says. “If there’s anybody out there that may think they can’t do this, they need to know that they can, no matter what their age is. I’ve always wanted to be in the medical field, but never had the time or the money to afford it, and this was my chance, and I came out on top, so it’s a very rewarding experience.”
“IF THERE’S ANYBODY OUT THERE THAT MAY THINK THEY CAN’T DO THIS, THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY CAN, NO MATTER WHAT THEIR AGE IS.”
them about their concerns.” She also conducts electrocardiogram (EKG) tests, takes vital signs, synthesizes hospital records and lab reports into patient charts, administers international normalized ratio (INR) tests to gauge blood thickness, and sets up Holter monitors — essentially a portable EKG
also had a lot of fun times as well. We had a great instructor. Everyone from Del Tech was great.”
For Sloan, tuition and books were free once she passed an entrance exam. The schooling and the work have been a great antidote to the uncertainty
54 CAREERS & STUFF | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
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