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Priscilla Fleming

Student Spotlight: Priscilla Fleming

June 25, 2024 Torrance

Soon after enrolling at El Camino College, Priscilla Fleming fast-tracked her career as a licensed respiratory care practitioner. She spent two years in the college’s associate degree program and currently works at an area hospital where she interacts with patients daily and is instrumental in their care. Right before her June 2023 graduation, she learned that El Camino would offer a new bachelor's degree program in respiratory care for fall 2023. She applied immediately.

“A bachelor’s degree offers so many opportunities for the future,” Fleming said. “You can get into research, management – there are so many other sides to this profession and a bachelor’s degree opens that up. For me, I think I might become a teacher at some point. I love my job at the hospital and working directly with patients, but I also want to give back to my community and I feel like I can accomplish that through teaching.”

Fleming’s career journey started with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. She had already earned a bachelor’s degree in her native Colombia before she came to the U.S. for a yearlong cultural exchange. Her plans to return home changed when she met her future husband. The couple eventually settled in California with their family. With two young children at home, Fleming wanted a career that offered flexible scheduling and allowed her to impact people’s lives – her education had to have those elements as well. After plenty of research, she discovered El Camino’s respiratory care program. She received credit for many of her bachelor’s degree classes and found respiratory care to be a good fit.

“El Camino was very helpful and did everything possible to help me join the respiratory care program,” Fleming said. “They guided me through the process and made sure I did not take more classes than I needed. I felt very supported; it was amazing. The program is designed for people who are working so you have the flexibility to study on your own time, and professors are always available to answer questions and help with research.”

As the first baccalaureate degree offered in the college’s 76-year history, the new respiratory care bachelor’s degree expands on El Camino’s existing two-year accredited associate degree, offering an accelerated 40-unit, 18-month course of study in an eight-week, online format across three semesters.

“I think one of the most beneficial parts of El Camino’s program is the lab on campus,” Fleming said. “We get a lot of practice at the college, and the lab is always open to us so we can prepare and study. I feel like everywhere we go in the hospital, people say how much they love El Camino students because of how well we are educated and trained. We learn to do things the right way.”

Students in El Camino’s bachelor’s program can advance their education while training in areas such as personnel management, policy design, and patient case management.

“The two-year program is intense and challenging, but when they offered the bachelor’s degree, I decided I wanted more,” she said. “I think you can never have enough education. There is always something new to learn.”