As International Nurses week comes to an end, Universal Training Institute wants to take the time to highlight one of its recent graduates, Mark Ganesh.

Mark started his journey into the nursing field in 2012. When Mark was nearly finished with his education, he had to step away from nursing school due to an unforeseen injury that would prevent him from completing his clinicals.

As time went on, and Mark embarked on other “service” careers, he realized that he still had a passion for nursing which he calls “the ultimate customer service career”. When COVID hit Mark took the opportunity to make a career change and get back into nursing school. Since he had taken a significant amount of time away from nursing, Mark decided to choose an accelerated LPN program so that he would be able to start his nursing career sooner rather than later.

“I looked at other programs but found that Universal Training Institute was the best fit for me”, Mark said. His mom went to UTI and told him that Universal Training Institute had great professors and that as long as he applied himself and did the work he would be successful. That is exactly what Mark did. Mark worked hard. “You have to be dedicated, especially for an accelerated program. You have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears, but it is very rewarding in the end”.

When asked what the liked most about nursing school Mark said, “the lectures”.“The teachers at Universal Training Institute are amazing. The lectures really brought everything that you studied at home together and solidified the information”.

From Dr. Bwho facilitated every part of your growth and initiated you into the program to ProfessorRollinswho helped reinforce fundamentals, “fundamentals are everywhere in nursing”. The professors make a big difference in your success at UTI.“You can tell that they really know the information and have experienced just about everything” Mark said. Mark got what he needed from each of his teachers. Mark said he studied about six hours a day and made over 500 flashcards to help with studying…commitment and dedication.

Mark even joined the afterschool tutoring sessions of other teachers just to make sure that he stayed abreast of all the information he needed.“You have to put in the work–you have to know you want this in order to be successful”.

Mark is excited about his career in nursing and is inspired to progress in his career. He is hoping to work in a hospital and is interested in medical-surgical nursing.

Mark knows that being a male nurse is rare and hopes that more men decide on embarking on careers in the nursing field. Just 12% of nurses are men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).“Not everyone feels comfortable with a male nurse”, Mark said, that may be why men are hesitant to get into the field. There are certain protocols that male nurses have to follow around female patients. Routine procedures like checking incisions or bathing female patients often require the presence of a chaperone. Having more male nurses will create a mutually beneficial situation in the field. Universal Training Institute is a great place to get your nursing career started.