Dallas College

Student Experience: Julian Martinez

“I took the Health Professions Readiness courses in order to apply to the El Centro Cardiac Sonography program. The best part of taking these courses is that they were all geared to give us a great foundation of knowledge and experience to help us in the health professions career of our choice. 

“Some of the information we learned included first aid training, general information of the common diseases and conditions people acquire, how to perform a complete physical examination and many more things. Everything we learned in these courses are things that we can and will be using once we are in the workforce, so these courses have really helped me feel more confident in my journey of joining the health professions world in the near future. 

“My professors in Health Profession Readiness courses were all very helpful and ready to help me actually learn the information and not just memorize it. The professors at El Centro are willing to put in the work and effort to help their students pass their courses and get closer to completing their degree. Because of this, I would recommend this Health Professions Readiness program to any person looking to pursue a degree in the health field. These courses are going to not only give you the information you need to learn, but they will also give you hands-on experience that will help you really get a feel of how a health professions career will be.”


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Zlatko Prijic, RRT

Pulmonary Rehab Coordinator Baylor University Medical Center
“I think I'd recommend El Centro to anybody, and I always do. If someone wants to go into respiratory or wants to learn more about respiratory, I point them in that direction.”
Respiratory Care Program
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Jose (Josey) George, RCIS, LMRT

Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist Baylor Garland Hospital
“My training and education at El Centro provided me with the knowledge and skills required to perform my job very well as an invasive cardiovascular specialist. The best part of my job is the satisfaction I gain at the end of each day, due to the fact that I’ve made a difference in my patients’ and their families’ lives by being a part of the lifesaving medical team.”
Invasive Cardiovascular Technology

Lupe Ortiz, RRT, NPS

Respiratory Care Practitioner Baylor University Medical Center
“I chose El Centro one, it was closer to home. It was a little more affordable than going to somewhere out of state or somewhere else. Just those two things were, were the main thing, the reason why I chose to go to El Centro. I think El Centro did an excellent job of preparing me for going into the workforce.”
Respiratory Care Program
Margaret Lembcke

Margaret Lembcke

Health Information Associate II, Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas and Baylor Medical Center at Irving
“There’s not a thing I don’t use from the information I learned in the Medical Front Office program. The classes did a very good job of teaching skills that we’d really need. We were always learning from people who have worked in the field, not just learned information in a classroom.”
Medical Front Office
Julian Martinez
Julian Martinez
Cardiac Sonography student, El Centro
Cardiac Sonography
School of Health Sciences
Updated September 10, 2026