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Mount Wachusett Community College celebrated the achievements of Paramedic Class 5 with a traditional pinning ceremony on January 12, 2024, at the college’s Gardner campus.
Along with family and friends, the graduates were congratulated by Paramedic Program Chair Peter Laitinen, Assistant Dean of Health Professions Lisa Stejskal, Medical Director Dr. Daniel Wilson, Clinical Coordinator and Professor John Bresnahan, adjunct faculty, and lab assistants.
Guest speaker and MWCC alumnus was Col. General George W. Horsley, the State Surgeon General for the Massachusetts Army National Guard. General Horsley holds multiple degrees, including a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, Master of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and a Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) through the University of Lynchburg.
Included among the graduates is Sergeant Bryan Young, MWCC’s first US Army Veteran student to utilize the Medic to Paramedic program. The Medic to Paramedic program gives Army Combat Medic, Army National Guard, referred to as 68 Whiskey, credit for their military training and experience, speeding their completion of the Paramedic program.
“This program gives our medics the opportunity to excel in the civilian world and bring their skills to their neighborhoods,” Col. Horsley told the graduates. “I have been a soldier for 36 years, and in medicine 33 of those 36 years, both of those are callings, not careers. It is a calling that brings you to this place. You don’t get here by accident; you have undertaken a grueling schedule of instruction. It’s about bettering yourselves, but more than that, it’s about being able to be more useful to your patients.”
The seven members of Class 5 are Michaela Casey of Worcester, Matthew Hansson of Paxton, Felicia Patenaude of Lunenburg, Kenneth Payano of Worcester, Carly Sell of Ashburnham, Conner Wilbur of Ayer, and Bryan Young of Tewksbury.