If you think you have a busy schedule, try being a full-time husband, dad, student, extern and patient care technician. It might seem like too much for one person, but recent Pima Medical Institute graduate Robert “Jammar” Williams knows firsthand what it’s like. He lived it.
“No matter what you’re going through, if you’re willing to make the sacrifice and you’re willing to take the steps, you can do anything.” Williams said.
He added, “During my clinical rotations, I would leave my house early Tuesday mornings, work my rotation from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., then go straight to my job and work from 6 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. Then I would take a shower at the hospital, drive to my clinical rotation, sleep for a little over an hour in my truck and do it all over again.”
Williams wouldn’t see his family from Tuesday mornings until he returned on Saturday mornings. He did that for the last 16 weeks of his Radiography program. Williams says that if it wasn’t for the support of his family and the Lord, he wouldn’t have been able to do it all.
“I never felt like this was about me. I always felt like it was about somebody else. Doing something as great as this couldn’t be about me. It’s about giving an outlet to somebody who feels like they’re at a bump in the road and they just can’t see themselves out of their situation. And then they see mine and realize if he can do it, so can I.”
Williams and his classmates would help each other throughout the program and became like family. He said when one of them was struggling in a situation or subject, then another student would come by and help out. They all graduated, passed their boards and are all working now.
He also said that during his journey as a student, his instructors were some of the best people he’s met in his entire life. “They really took care of the students and had a passion for what they did. You could see it in the way they taught,” Williams stated.
Williams currently works for St. Joseph’s Hospital and Honor Health. He’s being trained in the interventional radiology department, which isn’t typically an honor given to recent graduates.
“I love my job and am thankful for my education at PMI. It’s been worth all the hard work and sacrifice,” Williams said.
