How a Fairfax Co. class helps students avoid stumbling when they start seeing future patients

As seen on WTOP.com
June 17, 2025

After a student took the Health and Medical 101 class with Jerry Hinn last year, she joined the nursing program at Northern Virginia Community College.

When Hinn asked her how the adjustment was, she described her experience easily understanding medical terms that were used. She became a certified nurse aide and planned to take additional steps to become a nurse practitioner.

The course, run through Fairfax County Public Schools’ Adult and Community Education, aims to help aspiring medical professions get a head start.

Hinn, program specialist for the health and medical department with ACE, said the next cohort is scheduled to start this fall. It’s expected to launch in August and include 15 three-hour sessions on Saturdays, so students who have many extracurriculars don’t feel overwhelmed.

“It’s a kind of a crash course in anatomy and medical terminology, and it’s also a skill builder,” Hinn said, “with the idea that people in the medical field who are tripping over their words don’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence in the patients that they’re treating.”

The class is open to high school students and recent graduates, and Hinn said it costs $300 — plus the cost of a textbook that students keep. It’s designed to give students an edge in the county’s career and technical academies or in college programs.

“This is a skill builder class that will get people to be more successful when there’s credits and transcripts on the line,” Hinn said.

Beyond vocabulary and anatomy, Hinn said the class offers students a path to gaining the “confidence to practice on this. I would hate to sit in front of a doctor or nurse and them kind of fumbling around with Wikipedia, and you could hear from the lilt in their voice that they’re not really understanding how to communicate what they’re seeing or what they’re reading.”

The health care field includes many entry-level career possibilities, and Hinn said students who take the course “feel ready to apply and that there’s jobs awaiting for them.”

More information on the program is available online.

The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Adult and Community Education program (ACE) is the leading provider of flexible, affordable, outcome-oriented classes to promote learning at any stage in life. We offer more than 3,000 courses in a wide range of subjects that empower students of all ages and backgrounds to explore options for after high school graduation, gain valuable technical training, advance their careers with relevant skills, or enhance their lives with a range of personal interest classes. Our students and their success are what drives FCPS ACE. With more than 60 years of history and a deep connection to the local community, FCPS ACE is for you.