Students in a federal work‑study program (FWS) such as Al Quhshi are often offered jobs at higher rates than their non-FWS peers. These jobs are partly paid by federal or state funds, so employers have lower net cost to invest in these trial relationships. And in the end, employers become familiar, often fond of these junior associates.
Sabrina Sims is the health system’s vice president of revenue cycle. When asked about Al Quhshi and the perception of work-study students as well-educated but untried next to coworkers with years of experience, she waved it away.
Sure, she looks for experience, but do “they still have that light flickering and that energy that a college student’s going to have coming out, trying to get into the professional world to see if they can apply their studies? Because I want that.”
In Al Quhshi’s case, his immediate supervisor, Tasha Sears, says competence and reliability were never in doubt.
“From the front end to the back end, his work ethic is excellent,” she says. “I didn’t have to treat him any differently from my other employees.”
Developing the Future Workforce
Al Quhshi did the job over the summer while continuing to work as a staffer at the university’s fitness center swimming pool. He said he loved dealing directly with patients about their bills and attributed his “people skills” to his experiences in that most high-stakes of customer relations roles — restaurant server.
Through his work-study program he met Michael Whitfield, a revenue cycle analyst with the health system. Whitfield is an ECU alumnus with the same business degree and concentration Al Quhshi is finishing.
“My major, management information systems, is rare. You don’t find a lot of people even in the MIS major, but you have a whole MIS team here, and that was super exciting to meet them,” Al Quhshi says.
Whitfield, whom he sometimes calls “Sir Michael,” is a mentor. According to the graduating senior, it’s Whitfield’s role to share documentation and reports with management and key stakeholders, identify trends and innovate ways to improve processes — exactly what Al Quhshi hopes to do one day.
“Every time I see him coming, I’m like, ‘Hey, can I have a lunch with you?’ I look up to him,” he says.
“Abe’s success is his own, but his story is also one about how a university transforms a community,” Jackson says.
In the spring, Al Quhshi will receive his diploma and begin his career — or has his career already begun? Until this summer, he had thought he would have to move away. Perhaps not. He could continue to invest his talents in ECU Health.
He’s made all the right moves so far.
“I feel fortunate being an ECU student,” Al Quhshi says. “I have received all the help I need. I have met great people, great professors. And, yeah, it has been a whole experience for me.”
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