Become An Ambassador

Calling all of our “ALUMNI” who have benefited from a Foundation College Scholarship and/or Continuing Education! Where are you now? What are you doing? What do you most like about working in the healthcare field? What advice will you give to others who are considering a healthcare career? Send us a photo of you at work! Stay in touch with us…we want to hear from you! Read these updates from our current ambassadors:

Dr. Tabetha Bradley

“I grew up in Chelan. When I was home for the summer from my pre-med studies in South Carolina, working as a nursing assistant at Regency Manor in Chelan, I heard about the Health and Wellness Foundation scholarship and applied. I got it! I was able to reapply annually, and the scholarship helped support me through my last three years of college and during medical school.

The money was very helpful, but so was the assurance that the community was behind me. I appreciated just knowing they were out there, thinking of me, encouraging and supporting me. Each year when I reapplied it was another opportunity to keep that connection going. Keeping them informed of what I was up to helped too — especially being so far from home, I still felt a part of the community here through their support and the scholarship.

After med school I had five years of general surgery training in Seattle, then spent two years in West Africa volunteering as a surgeon through a volunteer international fellowship with Samaritan’s Purse post-residency program.

My family lives in Chelan, and it’s always been home, so when I heard there was a job opening, my husband and I decided to apply. We had just had our first child. I’ve been back for a year and a half now. Our first child is two now, and we also have a 9-month old. It’s great to be back; I love working in my hometown.

What advice would I give high school students considering a career in medicine? I’d say that medicine is a rewarding field. To succeed and be happy, you have to really enjoy helping people and be willing to face the challenges inherent in an evolving, complex field. I would strongly encourage it….in all fields, doctors, nurses, etc. there are countless opportunities for helping others and having an intellectually and emotionally rewarding career.

And to young women I would say that it’s possible to be a woman surgeon, to have a family and make it all work as long as you have the right support at home. I guess I’m proof of that.”

Dr. Tabetha Bradley
General Surgeon – Lake Chelan Health

Diana Henderson, RN, MSN

Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) Student Healthcare Interview. WVC healthcare students gathered together with LC Health & Wellness Foundation Executive Director Arlene Abbott and WVC Advisor Diana Henderson, RN MSN Ed, to talk about their nursing program.

Why did you decide on a nursing career?

  • Helping people is important to me
  • My Mom who is an RN encouraged me; nurses have an enormous impact on a patient’s day
  • I saw how the nurses cared for my sick grandma; I wanted to do something in return
  • My high school counselor encouraged me to go into nursing, but at the time I thought, “…oh all that blood and gore; I thought that was all there was.
  • But there is such a broad spectrum of healthcare in nursing!”
  • This is a career that is challenging, stimulating, very rewarding; there’s new technology every day
  • This is a routine to some degree, but every day is a different adventure!

What’s the hardest thing about nursing school?

  • Establish good study habits and work ethic!
  • Your gpa is so important; hard to get accepted into program without a good gpa
  • Best to get this education while you’re young; managing family, kids, job, and school is a challenge

What’s best thing about nursing school?

  • Work with the patients
  • When the “hardest patients” at the end of the day look at you and say, “good job”
  • “Thank you for letting me take care of you”

The Program

  • 20 Month WVC Nursing Program (need pre-requisites)
  • The nursing program at Wenatchee Valley College prepares students for careers in hospitals, convalescent centers, clinics, home care, and physician’s offices. The program focuses on knowledge, techniques and procedures for promoting health, providing care for the sick, disabled, infirmed, or other individuals or groups. Program courses include: administration of medication and treatments, assisting and physician during treatments and examinations, referring patients to physicians and other health care specialists, and planning education for health maintenance.

Chelan High School has a Med Club program; what advice would you give to these students?

  • Look for volunteer work
  • Take all the science and math courses you can while in high school…chemistry, biology, math, Running Start micro-biology, college credit classes…
  • Read books to Hospice patients, Nursing Home
  • Be a Red Cross Volunteer
  • Go to health fairs; talk with recruiters
  • Work on your gpa – 3.5 or better!

Diana Henderson
RN MSN Ed – Wenatchee Valley College Student Healthcare