There are many ways to potentially receive your healthcare training for free. The methods will depend on what career you wish to train for and where you will receive your training. You can always try for a financial aid package at a college as long as the program is accredited and you are taking 9 credits or more. Packages may include things like scholarships, grants, student loan and even work study. You can receive your healthcare education for free in most cases with these options.
Let’s look at some others:
Forgivable Education Loans for Service
North Carolina has a program to help forgive student loans for certain healthcare fields. This program is intended to encourage people to study for fields where there are currently shortages or where there are rapidly expanding needs. There are many different allied health programs of study that are on this list. If you already finished your degree or are planning to take loans to complete your certificate or degree, you might well receive forgiveness of your loans, thus receiving your education for free. You will need to work in your area of study for the stated amount of time within the state of North Carolina for those laons to be forgiven. You can learn more about this amazing opportunity by visiting: https://www.cfnc.org/FELS.
Employer Sponsored Programs
If you are already working for a healthcare provider in a non medical related field, you might be able to receive employer sponsored training. For example, they might provide tuition assistance if you will train for a medical career and then work for them. Perhaps you are working as a receptionist for a hospital and wish to become an EKG technician. Part of your benefits package might very well be that they will pay for you to go for this training as long as you then work for them as the EKG technician. You might receive help paying to become a nurse, a phlebotomist or for any number of other job positions there. This is definitely something worth looking into if you are already working in a healthcare facility.
College of Allied Health Science Scholarships
Many universities have a College of Allied Health Sciences Department. They often have scholarships available for students to apply if they are enrolled in Allied Health Programs. They may be institutional scholarships. Sometimes the funds are sponsored by families in honor of a loved one. Students will usually need to show some need for those programs. They will also need to show that they are committed to being successful and serving their community well once they graduate. One such school with many scholarship options is East Carolina University.
Nonprofit Foundations
Sometimes nonprofit organizations have grants and scholarships available to students. For instance, the North Carolina Foundation for Nursing can help students who are studying to become nurses or those who are already in nursing fields and looking to expand their education. They offer at least 5 different scholarship programs and the qualifying factors vary between funds. There may be other foundations in your area with similar types of scholarships for nursing or other health careers.
https://ncnurses.org/foundation/foundation-home/
Community Organizations offering other services
Some community organizations might provide the skills needed to start entry level jobs in the healthcare market. For example, Goodwill has a Certified Personal Care Aide course. They do not charge a fee for this particular class. They offer some other inexpensive classes that cost less than $300 in tuition including a Pharmacy Tech and Certified Nursing Assistant Class. This is just one of the things they do to try to improve the community around them
1616 Patton Avenue-Asheville North Carolina
Community Colleges
If you attend a community college that offers healthcare classes, you can find many ways to pay for your education. For instance, Wilkes Community College has various medical career programs including respiratory therapy and dental assisting. Students can receive help to pay for their coursework, books and other expenses by filing for financial aid. Financial aid packages can include WCC scholarships and as well as state and federal grants. Students must complete a FASFA as well as the WCC scholarships package to apply.
1328 S. Collegiate Drive-Wilkesboro, NC 28697
You can finance your healthcare training through scholarships and grants. You may even find some agencies that provide training to at risk individuals who might struggle to become trained in a career field otherwise.
Job Corps Centers – NC
One of the best places to look at for hands on training is the job corps centers. They work under the US Department of Labour to provide free career training to need based individuals. They also offer free accommodation and meals through out the training period and offer job placement assistance at the end. So they are definitely worth checking out.
The following centers in North Carolina offer career training in health care occupations:
Kitrell Job Corps: 1096 U.S. Highway 1 South, Kittrell, NC 27544
Tel: (252) 438-6161 or (800) 733 – 5627
Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, 502 Oconaluftee Job Corps Road
Cherokee, NC 28719, Tel: (828) 497-5411 or (800) 733 – 5627
On the job training
If you are keen on pursuing a career as a Pharmacy Technician then you might want to consider the Pharmacy Technician Trainee job that CVS Health offers. These are hourly retail jobs where you get trained on the job. Once you complete the Pharmacy Technician Training program according to the local state guidelines, you may move to a Pharmacy Technician post.
CVS Health has various outlets around the state. So you have a good chance of getting one close to your area.
You need to be atleast 16 years old, be able to greet customers in a courteous manner, assist pharmacy and front store customers with their requirements or request additional help if required to maximise customer satisfaction, answer calls with the appropriate greeting and maintain patient confidentiality. These are the basic customer service requirements.
To apply for the post, you may visit the CVSHealth website. Should you have any problems, you may contact them on their toll free number: 855-338-5609.
FAFSA
Most colleges, Universities and institutions have a Financial Aid Office. The US Department of Education offers Federal Student Aid through most of the accredited institutions. So your institution’s financial aid office should be your first stop. The primary requirement is that the FAFSA form should be filled out accurately. So do take some uninterrupted time out to fill this out and submit it to your institution’s financial aid office.
Various scholarships are available through the Federal Student Aid. Some are merit based and some are need based. So be sure to provide relevant documents to prove your need or merit.
When you submit your FAFSA form, you may even inquire if there are any job openings through the Federal Work Study program (FWS). The FWS program provides opportunity for students to work part time on or off campus to be able to cover their tuition costs.
Some scholarships are program based and you may avail these in whatever accredited college, university or vocational institution you may be enrolled in. Some of these scholarships are mentioned below:
Oliver Joel and Ellen Pell Denny Healthcare scholarships
The Winston-Salem Foundation offers the Oliver Joel and Ellen Pell Denny Healthcare scholarships for students intending to pursue a career in Health Care and have a financial need. If you are a North Carolina resident, preferably residing in Davidson, Davie, Stokes, Forsyth, Surry and Yadkin counties then this could be ideal for you. The award amount varies but can be upto USD 3,000 and is granted to a student seeking a certificate or diploma in a healthcare field such as (but not limited to) nursing, respiratory therapy, radiography or nuclear medicine. You need to be accepted in the program and have a minimum High school GPA of 2.5.
Contact Information:
751 W Fourth St, Suite 200, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Phone: (336) 714-3445
ACLS Medical Training
ACLS Medical Training offers USD 1,000 unrestricted scholarships to students selected based on an Essay Contest about assisting someone in a life support situation (details available on ACLSmedicaltraining.com). Any student enrolled in Dental, Pharmacy, Medical or Nursing school or a Respiratory Therapy, Paramedic or Emergency Medical Technician program is eligible for this contest. Deadline for submission of essays is December 31st.
Contact information: (866) 540 8212
Technologist Trainee-Lab Corp, Burlington North Carolina
If you recently have graduated from college with a degree in lab science or have at least 24 hours of chem. /biology courses, you could apply for an exciting opportunity as a technologist trainee. You will train at an advanced lab and learn about a wide range of testing applications. Gain the skills you need to be successful no matter which lab you end up working at in the future. This program will teach you what you need to know to process and analyze a range of diagnostic and associated testing. They accept the applications for this program through:
https://recruiting.adp.com/srccar/public/RTI.home?c=1159451&d=External&rb=???&r=5000234499506
Cardiac Monitor Tech Trainee-Cone Health
You can apply to learn to be a Cardiac Monitor Tech. You will receive all the background and training you need to work in this field successfully. As a cardiac tech, you will help monitor equipment and keep an eye on patients being monitored. You will learn to spot changes in their heart rhythms and to report concerns and changes to the appropriate healthcare supervisors. You must be good with patients and with technology. It is necessary to work in a fast paced environment and to make decisions quickly so that you know when to respond to monitor beeps and when you must get the nurse or the doctor. Apply here:
https://www.mosescone.apply2jobs.com/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showLogin
Personal Home Care Aide-Goodwill Industries
If you are out of work and need trained for a new career or have a medical condition for which you could be employed with proper training, you might qualify for the Personal Care Home Aide program. This course will teach you the skills you need to work as a home care aide for elderly individuals or other individuals who need some basic level/non nursing care assistance in their home. This may not be the job you want to work in long term but it can help you begin on a career path to someday be a nursing assistant, medical assistant or even a nurse.
719 West Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292