On Thursday August 9, 2012, I invited a group of twenty people from Homestead’s Haitian Community to accompany me on a tour of the Krome Avenue campus of Dade Medical College. Our group was met by Mr. Alfredo Soler, the Campus Director, who led the visit of the various buildings the College.
The goal of the tour was to educate the community leaders on the opportunities for medical education that the college
offers. Among those present were Dejean Dessous of Dejean Entertainment, Mr. Luis A Dilan, and Mrs. M. Kerna Michel of GALATA Inter Community Resource Center.
Dade Medical College opened in 1999 as Dade Medical Institute. In 2007, the school became a fully-accredited college. The college offers Associate of Science and Bachelors of Science Degrees and tuition varies depending on the field of study.
The college has six Florida campuses from Homestead to Jacksonville with a total of 2,000 students. The Homestead Campus opened in 2009 and currently has about 260 students studying in various healthcare fields including Nursing, Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound, X-ray Technology, Medical Billing and Coding, and more. The college hosts small classes and individual attention with a ratio of eight-to-ten students per instructor.
The College works with all the major hospitals near their campuses for clinical training and also offers job placement services upon graduation as well as other scholarships for those interested in the medical profession.
As part of their future planned expansion, the college recently acquired an old motel in downtown Krome Avenue and is in the process of transforming it to living quarters for students. Realizing the college is transforming the City of Homestead one student at-a-time, we felt that the tour was a success and the guests were pleased to find out how much the Dade Medical College has to offer the Homestead community.
