Bibiana had just finished medical school and completed her residency when she and her husband decided to leave their native Cuba for a better life in the United States. Cuba’s loss was our gain. She intends to transfer her medical credentials and complete a specialty in neurology, but it’s a difficult and uncertain path. It wasn’t entirely clear how she would make her way from here to there.
After coming to The Immigrant Learning Center, Bibiana got the answers she needed.
“They make us feel like we are part of the culture,” she said. “They really make it much easier for us start in the process of getting a job, or in my case, getting a training program that will make me get my dreams come true.”
Bibiana took our Next Steps class, which gave her a chance to practice speaking English, learn some interviewing skills and, most importantly, discover a way to gain experience in the medical field.
In December, she completed a medical interpretation program she learned about at The ILC and will soon start a three-week clinical rotation internship at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is very excited to help patients get the care they need despite language differences.
While all she needed was a little push to figure out her future, she credits The ILC’s teachers for helping the United States feel like home.
“At the beginning, it was really scary. Everything was new, a different culture, a different language, but after I met the greatest teachers that we have at The ILC, I think that my life had changed for real,” she said.