When Shahpoor Motawakil came to the U.S. from his native Afghanistan in 2020, he had to leave behind two things: his beloved family and his profession as a doctor of radiology. Now, thanks to an innovative program at the College of Western Idaho (CWI) in Boise, he is rebuilding his healthcare career — and working to bring his family to the U.S.
Motawakil is one of the more than 350 students who have completed CWI’s multicultural nursing assistant (MNA) program, which the school launched in 2011 to create career opportunities in healthcare for adult education students whose primary language is not English.
“There’s an underappreciated and underutilized population of non-English speakers in this area,” says Jac Webb, a director of adult education at CWI and head of the MNA program. “For students like Shapoor, who come in with advanced degrees, the class acts as a conduit for them to get back into a career they left behind. But the community also benefits from having skilled workers entering healthcare, a field that’s struggling to retain people.”
Each year, 25 to 30 students — roughly half of whom have a background in healthcare — go through the semester-long program. The majority are from Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Ethiopia; others hail from Iraq, Bhutan, Colombia, Afghanistan and Mexico.
One of the main obstacles they face is the language barrier. Employing an integrated-education training model, the MNA program teaches English in the context of the type of nursing assistant work students will be certified for. They learn not only job skills but also job readiness — how to write a resume, apply for a job, handle an interview and navigate American work culture, all of which are transferable skills if the student decides on a different career path. “We set up mock interviews with employers so students can practice their interviewing skills and make connections,” says Heidi Nash, assistant director of the program. “These often lead to real interviews and job opportunities.”
In developing the MNA and other adult education programs, CWI works closely with industry partners in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. “We want to make sure that we’re educating the students in a way that meets the needs of potential employers,” says Michael Jensen, director of development at the CWI Foundation. “That’s the goal of this program, and the college itself — to make sure our students are employable.”
The nursing assistant program gave Motawakil a foot in the door at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, one of the top private employers in Boise. He has been employed there as a patient attendant while earning his radiology certificate. He’ll soon begin Boise State University’s radiology program.
Bank of America has supported the MNA program since its launch. Today, continued funding helps students with both tuition and extras such as books and medical scrubs as well as bus passes and gas cards to cover transportation to class. “It’s helped us eliminate a lot of the barriers,” Jensen says.
The integrated approach pioneered by the MNA program has spread throughout the college. “MNA became a model for other adult education programs, such as a food nutrition program and a Swift coding program done in partnership with Apple,” says Webb. “All of these have been born out of this little pilot that we started in 2011, with Bank of America’s help.”
The support for the College of Western Idaho is an example of how, from entrepreneur funding and expanding homeownership to professional skills training and healthcare access, Bank of America continues to partner with innovative leaders to help communities implement solutions to society’s important challenges.
