CCC&TI Graduate: From Diploma to Doctorate

HUDSON, NC (October 13, 2016)…Dr. April Williams has an impressive and lengthy resume as a medical professional. She currently serves as part of Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Nursing Faculty, has worked in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Baptist Medical Center and as a travel nurse in intensive care units in Arizona, California and Colorado. But she got her start in the medical field as a nervous 19-year-old taking a chance on a new program at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute.

At 18, Williams had just graduated from a small, private school in Hickory and says she had no idea what type of career she wanted to pursue. She narrowed it down to the medical field and felt that starting local at a 2-year institution would be the best fit for her. “At the time, nursing and certified nurse assistant programs were the only medical programs being offered at local community colleges,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do something different.” She happened to see an article in a local newspaper about CCC&TI’s new Ophthalmic Medical Assistant Program that sparked her interest and looked like a good fit. “The program was new, unique and I felt I could excel in the program,” she said.

Williams, who worked in retail and also completed a certificate in Phlebotomy while working toward her OMA degree, says that the comprehensive clinical rotations in the OMA program made a lasting impression on her. “I did not know this at the time, but the OMA program laid the foundation for me to continue in the medical field for years to come.”

In 2000, Williams completed her OMA degree and moved from Hickory to Clemmons, N.C. and began her first job at Wake Forest University Health’s Eye Center. Her work experiences included providing patient care for ophthalmic patients with chronic eye diseases, ocular traumas, and pre and post-surgical procedures. During her employment at the Eye Center, Williams says she became more familiar with the field of nursing and decided to continue her education. In 2003, she earned her Associate Degree in Nursing from Forsyth Technical Community College in Winton-Salem and began her nursing career in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Baptist Medical Center. “Looking back at my time in the Eye Center and my classes at CCC&TI, I quickly realized ophthalmology had provided me with more than a career. It had ignited a desire in me to keep challenging myself and to grow professionally and personally,” said Williams.

Her nursing career provided her with the opportunity to travel across the United States working in Intensive Care Units and eventually to continue her education. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2009 at Appalachian State University in Boone. “It was at this time, I began to explore the role of clinical nurse educator and I began to teach nursing students at a local community college,” said Williams. “As my role as a clinical nurse educator expanded I knew I wanted to do more for nursing students in my community.”

Williams earned her Master of Science in Nursing degree in 2011 at UNC-Charlotte. In 2015, she accepted a full-time faculty position at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory while also working on her doctorate. Williams earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., in 2016.

Williams says that she is often asked why she didn’t go to a four-year institution right after high school. “I always respond that a four-year college was not a good fit for me. Each student is unique and students learn differently in different environments. For me, community college was a great fit. My fellow students at CCC&TI felt more like family. We were a very small class and everyone supported each other,” she said. “Our instructor, Mrs. Harris, was an engaging and encouraging instructor. She made our class interactive and she wanted us to be successful. She believed in us.”

Even though Williams has worked all over the country and earned several advanced degrees, as an instructor, she says she calls upon much of what she learned at CCC&TI in the classroom with her own students. “A lot of time has passed since I sat as a nervous 19-year-old in CCC&TI’s OMA classroom however, the lessons I learned in that classroom are lessons that I am now sharing with my students,” said Williams. “CCC&TI’s OMA program laid the foundation for me to continue on in the medical field. When I entered the OMA program I had no idea it would lead me down this path but I am so glad it did.”

For more information about the Ophthalmic Medical Assisting Program at CCC&TI, call 828-726-2200 or visit www.cccti.edu.