First endowment fund to support Crafton Hills College’s Paramedic Program

Publish Date: Feb. 15, 2024

Crafton Hills College’s Paramedic Program has received of a brand-new endowment fund to support its students – thanks to a familiar program supporter, Dr. Phong Nguyen, the program’s medical director and president of the College’s Foundation.

Dr. Nguyen created the scholarship fund that will provide a $500 award each year for a student graduating from the to use toward post-program costs.

“I just want to give back,” explained Nguyen when asked why he created the endowment. “Paramedicine is really close to my heart, and so, it made a lot of sense to start a scholarship for our students.”

Crafton’s paramedic students spend hours in-and-outside of the classroom each day in preparation for their career. The program is geared toward producing outstanding paramedics in the field by focusing on three key areas:

• Didactic: lectures, interactive presentations, skill labs, and simulations,
• An off-campus clinical internship that in which students practice and refine assessment and technical skills, and
• Field training using hands-on, real-life response instruction with patients in crisis.

Program costs are around $5,000, and with a full plate of coursework ahead, students do not have time for a job. Pre-and-post program costs often hold students back from applying for or completing the program, shared Michelle Riggs, Crafton’s director of institutional advancement.

“Scholarships for these graduates is crucial for the safety of our communities because it enables our financially constrained trained first responders the ability to finish those final steps so they can begin their careers,” she continued.

Nguyen is excited to see the program continue to flourish with support of the College through its Foundation, and the leadership of Program Director Amanda Ward, herself a program alumna.

Nguyen also hopes his message of giving back sparks an interest with the community, especially for program alumni, so the scholarship fund can increase each year.

“I really hope to start something new with this. Hopefully it blossoms into something bigger than I originally intended,” Nguyen said. “My hope is that once these students receive the scholarship and are successful in their journey, they will return and give back in the form of a scholarship themselves, or maybe three or four [program alumni] get together to form one in support of their for fellow paramedics.

To learn more about Crafton’s paramedic program, go to www.craftonhills.edu/paramedic. To support Nguyen’s newly formed endowment or to fund a scholarship of your own, contact Riggs by phone at 909-389-3391 or email at mriggs@craftonhills.edu.