Healthcare Programs Completion Ceremony 2025

“Today marks the culmination of all your hard work,” said Rosemarie Roccio, Director of Healthcare Programs, in her opening remarks to the graduates at the July 17 Program Completion Ceremony.  “You have grown in ways you may not have imagined. Your skills will improve lives and your compassion will change them.”

Held for the first time at the PCCC Theater on the Main Campus in Paterson, the ceremony honored 15 new medical assistants and two dialysis technicians, all of whom received their professional certificates before an audience of faculty members, administrators, and guests.

After a musical prelude, the excited and proud graduates entered the theater in procession and were seated onstage for the evening’s ceremony.

Ms. Roccio thanked both the faculty and families of the graduates for “supporting them every step of the way.”

Patricia Medeiros, Executive Director of Enrollment Services at PCCC’s Passaic Campus, where the healthcare programs are based, offered congratulations and inspiration in her formal welcome to the ceremony. “You are the future of patient care,” she assured the graduates. “We are all incredibly proud of you and look forward to your continued success.”

Greeting the gathering, Dr. Fran Figueroa Mal, Associate Dean of Nurse Education commended the graduates for entering “a wonderful profession where you can grow,” and urged them to “not let this be the end” of their learning experience.

The program was marked by a candlelighting and pinning ritual. Holding their lighted tapers, the graduates created a half-circle of brightness around the stage while reciting the American Medical Association’s Medical Assistant Code of Ethics. (The Dialysis Technician graduates were unable to attend the ceremony, so that code of ethics was not recited).

In a tradition of welcome into the profession, each graduate was pinned by a faculty member with a gold pin symbolizing the medical assistant profession. Each was also given a rose, presented by Kristine Carrillo, an alumna of the program who is now employed at the College as a lab assistant and also pursuing her nursing degree.

Five graduates received special recognition awards.  In the Medical Assistant group, Tonoka Moushan received the Academic Achievement Award, Erika Diaz was given the Rising Star Award, and Madeline Dominguez was honored for achieving the highest score on the CCMA (Certified Clinical Medical Assistant) Exam.  In the Dialysis Technician group Dana Esmail received the Academic Achievement Award and Catherine Limos received the Rising Star Award.

In addition to earning the CCMA or DT (Dialysis Technician) title, eight of the graduates also completed the requirements for Certified Phlebotomy Technician, enhancing their employment opportunities.

In the program director’s address, Ms. Roccio told the audience that the healthcare programs at PCCC are very holistic and develop both the skills and the confidence of the students.

 “Our program here is different from other ones,” she said, noting that PCCC students regularly receive accolades when they are sent out to various hospitals to fulfill the program’s clinical requirement or when they obtain employment.

Ms. Roccio encouraged the graduates to continue learning and growing “We know how hard you have worked and the challenges you faced,” she said. “This journey is not just about academic achievement, but about developing resilience and becoming a better version of yourself.”

Concluding that healthcare is fundamentally about “empathy, patience, and professionalism,” Ms. Roccio urged the graduates to “never stop learning.”  

In what has become a tradition for the Healthcare Certificate Completion event, the ceremony concluded with “A Look Back,” the slideshow created by faculty member Dr. Paola Pawlick that depicts the challenging, inspiring, and often humorous, journey of the students through the program.

A reception for the graduates and their guests followed the event in the Paterson Room.  Congratulations to all our new Medical Assistants and Dialysis techs.

Find more information about Healthcare Programs at PCCC.