Staff Reports



MOULTRIE — The nursing field has begun to see an influx of male nurses over the past decade. But Moultrie Technical College’s Moultrie and Tifton campus medical assisting (MA) programs are experiencing their own boost in class gender diversity.

Three Moultrie Tech medical assisting students walked across the stage at Withers Auditorium in Moultrie as the first-ever male graduates of the MA diploma program during the college’s semi-annual Commencement Ceremony held Friday night.

Justin Summerlin, 21, of Moultrie, along with Craig Harper, 24, and Phillip Tillery, 22, both of Sylvester, were part of classes that prepare students for a career field that is significantly staffed by females. The class rosters hold close to the national numbers in which 90 percent of all medical assistants are women.

Medical assisting has been identified as the fastest growing allied health profession in the 21st century. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections, employment of medical assistants is expected to grow 34 percent from 2008 to 2018.

Training consists of both clinical and administrative skills, making MAs multi-skilled professionals. They specialize in medication administration, venipuncture, medical office procedures and medical transcription.

Summerlin, who attended the MTC Moultrie campus, is already employed in his field at the Colquitt Regional Medical Center laboratory and plans to pursue a registered nursing degree in the future.

Harper, also a Moultrie campus student, plans to take the medical assisting certification exam soon and begin working on the medical assisting associate degree at Moultrie Tech with hopes of entering the United States Navy in the summer.

Tillery, of the MTC Tifton campus, is also working in the medical field at the Spine Center in Tifton and aspires to apply for admission into the MTC radiologic technology program in the near future.

The three MA students were among hundreds of their fellow MTC graduates Friday night, as the college recognized more than 250 allied health, business and computers, personal and public service, and technical and industrial program graduates from its four-county service area of Colquitt, Tift, Turner and Worth.

MTC President Tina Anderson congratulated the summer and fall quarter graduating classes of 2009 as MTC early childhood care and education instructor and 2008 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year award winner Kathryn Kent led the faculty, staff and graduate processional as the event’s marshal. 

MTC Board of Directors member Brinson Brock of South Georgia Banking Company in Ashburn assisted the college’s administration in the conferring of awards. One of the highlights of the ceremony was the commencement address given by Brad Bowen, lead pastor at Heritage Church in Moultrie, as he challenged the graduates and audience to live a life of passion.

The college honored the memory of practical nursing program graduate Bryan Collier who completed his course work in September but passed away unexpectedly in November. His mother, Jackie Holcomb, accepted his cap and gown in Friday’s ceremony.