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Q & A with Derek Patton

Meet Derek Patton – Program Chair of Nurse Aide and Medical Assisting Programs
  • man smiling in a teal shirt

Background

Degrees & Certificates

  • Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cellular Developmental Biology and a Certificate in the Study and Practice of Leadership from the University of Colorado – Boulder
  • Master of Biomedical Sciences from the University of Northern Colorado
  • Nurse Aide Certificate from Agape Angelicum School of Nursing Arts
  • American Heart Association – Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (CPR/AED) Program

Membership

National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA)

Awards

2014-2015 Health Sciences Faculty of the Year

Q & A

What do you do at CCD?

I am the Program Chair for the Nurse Aide and Medical Assisting Programs. I also teach two sections of Medical Terminology and manage the simulation lab and the Home Health Aide Competency labs.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I have the distinct privilege of interacting with a variety of people throughout my day and assisting them in seeking an educational program that will get them one step closer to their educational and or career goal.

When you’re not working, what do you do?

I have two wonderful little boys and a beautiful wife who I love spending time with every moment that I am not at work. I am also a basketball official for several non-profit adult basketball leagues around the area and sit on the Congenital Heart Foundation Board (Rocky Mountain Region).

I am an active alumnus for both the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program and Presidents Leadership Class. For fun I love to bowl, when I can, and attempting to train for a marathon in May if my injured knee will let me.

What moment at CCD stands out as the most memorable?

My most treasured moment was being a part of my first CCD Commencement ceremony this past May. To watch each of our students go across the stage and accept their degree after so much hard work was truly a great moment.

Who had the greatest influence on your education and/or career path?

My biggest mentor/advisor would be my cardiologist, Dr. Mark Düster. He has been my doctor since I was five-weeks old and has guided me every step of my journey. I have always looked up to him and I owe him my life, literally.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I have received a lot of advice and frankly I have forgotten a lot more. That said, something that has always stuck with me is to simply live each day like it is your last. I treasure every day that I am given and I thank God for the people in my life.

Which three people (living or dead) would you invite to dinner, and why?

I would invite Hippocrates so that we may discuss further the evolution of medicine and what he thinks about it today; Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, who was the first human to journey into outer space just because I think the conversation, would be out of this world; and then of course, I would invite my Mom because she is always the life of the party!