Joanne Brant, a recent Western Technical College (WTC) graduate from the Health
Information Technology (HIT) Program, says, “there is really no way NOT to get hired” after
you graduate, as WTC provides externships and job placement in addition to the knowledgeable
instructors and great training facilities. She adds that “the student to teacher ratio is excellent,
the campus is nice, and all the technology is up to date”. Brant so highly reveres Western Tech
that she even encouraged her sister, Anita Cobos, to enroll in the HIT Program. In addition to her
recent graduation from WTC, in April of this year, Ms. Brant also took and passed the state
certification examination. She took the test in April and had her certification by May, where at
that time she was hired, in a position she loves, at El Paso Orthopedic Surgery. With the help of
WTC, Brant now has a job she loves where she has full medical, dental, and life insurance plus
retirement and yearly bonuses!
While attending night classes at Western Tech, Joanne Brant worked during the day as a
school teacher and then dedicated herself to classes from six to ten p.m. every night. She
certainly had her hands full, with two kids, a day job, and night classes. She reflects on her time
at WTC, “WTC provided many real world scenarios, lots of mock interviews, and helped us
prepare for the certification exams with practice tests”. She adds that another benefit of choosing
Western Tech is the instructors, because “it is in who you know.” Many, if not most, of WTC
instructors have had career practice in the areas they teach. Brant says that staff of WTC helped
get her the position at El Paso Orthopedic, because “Western Tech has the inside track to job
placement”. If it weren’t enough to have instructors who have local clout, there is always the
bonus of career placement.
Another Western Tech HIT graduate, Mrs. Reanna Soriano, has also received her Billing
and Coding certification from the state. She, like Mrs. Brant, says “Western Tech fully prepared
her for the exam…with practice exams that were harder than the actual test!” Soriano is looking
forward to use her knowledge attained in a working environment as she is going to go through
the Colleges Career Service Department. Similar to Mrs. Brant, Mrs. Soriano has also
encouraged a relative, her brother, Jerry Perez, to enroll in classes at WTC. She states that “at
Western Tech, if you apply yourself,” you can just as easily earn a certification in any of the
many fields offered at the school. She specifically enjoyed the small class size, where instructors
and classmates contributed to a learning community.
