Her Story
About April
My love for the medical field started when I was about 17 years old in my last year of high school. My grandfather had a stroke and became paralyzed on one side, and I would go every day after school to help my grandmother care for him. Watching the nurse who came to help them, I saw the compassion and security that comes from knowing someone is there to assist people with medical conditions. That experience gave me the desire to branch out and try healthcare. I started working at a senior living home and doing home care privately. One of my patients ended up at Roper Hospital, and after going there with them, I decided to pursue formal training. I started with CNA work, though I had initially planned to do medical assistant training. Over my 26-year career, I've worked in oncology with cancer patients, home health, and now with multiple specialty clinics at MUSC including cardiology, internal medicine, family medicine, neurology, psychiatry, and nephrology. I recently achieved a major milestone by passing my Registered Medical Assistant certification, which allows me to work in a dual role as both an MOA2 and clinical assistant. In my position, I can jump in to help providers with patient triage, injections, and other clinical needs when we're short-staffed. I've had the privilege of training over 25 people at MUSC and entire staffs at 3 locations during my time at Roper. My passion has always been helping patients understand that their medical condition doesn't define what they can accomplish moving forward in life. This is especially meaningful to me because I have a child with special needs, and I know firsthand the importance of compassionate, patient-centered care.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with April
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my success comes from having a child with special needs and using that experience to help patients get through their struggles. My heart is in letting them know that their condition does not define where they can accomplish moving forward in life. The compassion I learned from caring for my grandfather when he had a stroke, and then raising my daughter with Down syndrome, taught me to love people beyond their faults and help them see their own potential. I've been blessed to have mentors like my instructor Ro, who pushed me during overwhelming days and reminded me that what I do matters - that the world needs people who care for those who don't have family members to care for them. She helped me understand what matters most and showed me things in a different light even when I was frustrated. My success really comes from having a big heart and the desire to give back, to help people feel like they're part of society and that they can accomplish anything, even if their way of doing it is different.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them that the medical field is a great job, but I won't lie and say every day is easy. As a Christian woman, I always tell people you have to pray for patience and strength. This field is professional and compassionate - you have to love and look at things beyond fault, and you have to have a heart to want to help. The world needs a lot of compassionate people who can stand there and say 'I got you, I'm not going to let you fall, I'm here.' We're not just nursing somebody back to health, we're pushing them to get to that point and encouraging them at the same time. This field is more than just a blessing - it's a compassionate heart thing, something that you would want somebody to do for you, and you return it to do for somebody else. I would push young women to do it because we need people who care enough to help others through their struggles.
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