NMC’s GESI nursing programs attract foreign doctors

By Edith G. Alejandro
Asian Writers Institute

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—The Northern Marianas College is slowly positioning itself as the best doorway for Asian students to get into what has now become the world’s most lucrative profession through the Global Education Strategic Initiatives, which offers five nursing programs that are actually a combination of traditional and unconventional approaches in education.

This was disclosed by Sedy Demesa, whose company, Willis Management Group, handles the marketing of the nursing programs in Asian countries such as the Philippines, China, and South Korea. The company is also in charge of the recruitment of international students for all of the five nursing programs under the GESI umbrella.

California-based Demesa left for the Philippines last Feb. 3 to meet with a group of Manila doctors who have expressed strong interest in enlisting in one of the GESI’s breakthrough programs—the accelerated nursing course.

Also called the GESI Nursing Program 4, this education initiative qualifies all licensed and practicing doctors of medicine to obtain an associate degree and be eligible to take the nursing board examination in four months. Under the program, licensed and practicing doctors would have all their natural science and other related courses credited, giving them the chance to immediately proceed to taking the program requirements consisting of 47 credits.

Demesa said they are actually receiving an unexpectedly high volume of inquiries from doctors around countries in Asia about the accelerated nursing program, adding that majority of the licensed physicians they have talked with have already made up their mind about taking nursing as a second course.

“Many people, particularly doctors in Asia, have started acknowledging the fact that they are likely to get better pay if they switch to nursing, especially if they will work in the U.S. or in Europe,” she said, while pointing out that the program is not aimed at taking doctors out of their vocation but merely to provide an option to those who are looking for an alternative career.

Demesa has been in close coordination with NMC president Tony Deleon Guerrero for the entry of international students to the Northern Marianas beginning this Fall Semester. The CNMI government has placed education on top of its priority, believing that it holds the key to the Commonwealth’s economic resilience amid the volatility of the tourism and garment manufacturing sectors.

Deleon Guerrero said NMC’s efforts to revitalize its nursing programs are a big step toward realizing the government’s goal to make the CNMI the center for quality American education in the Pacific, while also establishing a more resilient industry.

The phenomenon of doctors who look at nursing as a better alternative for them to earn more was borne out of America and Europe’s acute shortage of nurses that prompted these two economic powerhouses to open their immigration doors to foreign nurses and offer them competitive compensation package.

In the Philippines alone, the National Institute of Health Policy and Development estimates that as many as 3,000 doctors are now studying to become nurses—all of them hoping to leave the country and make more money elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Demesa said Willis Management Group’s involvement in the GESI Nursing Programs is anchored on three major objectives: (1) to educate students from the Asia-Pacific Region through the NMC; (2) extend scholarships and financial aids to deserving local and foreign students; and (3) provide employment to graduates of the nursing programs in any of the skilled nursing facilities and convalescent hospitals owned and operated by California-based Pleasant Care Corporation and SNF Properties, where she holds the title of executive vice president.

Pleasant Care Corp. and SNF Properties, Inc. own and operate a chain of skilled nursing facilities and convalescent hospitals manpowered by 5,200 employees all over California and Nevada.

Demesa also disclosed that her group has established strong contacts in China and South Korea to intensify the marketing and promotion of the NMC’s five GESI Nursing Programs. She noted that marketing efforts are in tune with the CNMI Government’s vision to carve a niche for the Northern Marianas as a hub for quality American education in the Pacific.

In addition, Willis Management Group is organizing an education conference to formally introduce the five GESI Nursing Programs to foreign students. The education conference will be initially held in Manila but Demesa said they are also looking at bringing it to Beijing and Seoul in the coming months.

Besides the accelerated course for foreign doctors, GESI’s nursing programs include a two-year nursing degree that is open to all high school graduates; an accelerated degree for graduates of healthcare courses, which allows a student to complete the nursing program in one full semester or in less than a year; NCLEX review with a bridge program in English, which is open to nursing graduates or nurses who are eligible to take the RN board exam called the National Council Licensure Examination; and a nurse assistant certification program that may be completed in six weeks, which would make the graduates eligible to take the board examination for Certified Nurse Assistants.