New company formed to prepare world-class Filipino professionals

Filipino nurses who wish to explore employment opportunities overseas now have all the reasons to pursue their dreams as a new joint venture company formed by the STI Education Services Group and the US-based Universal Worker Inc., has committed to make things much easier for them.

The new company, named STI-Universal Worker Inc. (STI-UWI), offers review courses in CGFNS, TOEFL and TSE for nurses and will seek employment opportunities for its graduates following a three-month long training and review program.

Universal Worker, a Houston-based consulting firm that specializes in training, education and preparing qualified professionals for a successful career in other countries, will provide the network of STI schools nationwide.

STI, on other hand, will provide the manpower and resources for all candidates who wish to undergo the review program while placement agency Global Resource for Outsourced Workers Inc. (GROW), an affiliate company of STI, will match the skills of the graduates with industry needs to further broaden their chances for immediate employment.

"Our program is structured to help Filipino professionals succeed in their careers as well as become productive and motivated individuals whose performance will outshine others in their field," STI-UWI president Annabelle Borromeo said in a press briefing yesterday.

Part of the program is a 92-hour live lecture course to be conducted by acknowledged professionals from prestigious board review and public speaking institutions. The lecturers are either master or doctorate degree holders and considered experts in various fields like woman and child health, psychiatry, medical-surgical and critical care.

STI president and chief executive officer Eusebio Tanco said STI-UWI will ensure that nurses are given all the help they need to become world-class professionals. "We intend to set up a registry for nurses that can be readily tapped for employment. We wish to build on these relationships to ensure that they will last a lifetime," he said.

GROW chairman Monico Jacob said STI-UWI expects to send 300 nurses to the United States this year. "We’re hoping to send 300 nurses to the US this year. We expect this figure to grow further in the coming years as more people get familiar with our business."

Jacob said the review class starts on March 17. STI-UWI currently has 500 nurses in its fold, 400 of which are from Metro Manila and the remaining 100 are based in Cebu. He expects about 1,000 nurses to undergo the training program.

He said the company will also allow nurses to temporarily work in the hospitals while waiting for their working papers to be processed. "We will keep them employed so they don’t waste their time. We will pay them. Hospitals can use them on a temporary basis," Jacob said.

Among STI-UWI’s affiliated hospitals in the US are St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Memorial Hermann Baptist Beaumont Hospital and Seton Healthcare Network.

Tanco said the program will be initially limited to registered nurses. He said the company will expand its program to teachers and information communication tehcnology professionals and will soon be available throughout the STI network of over 100 schools nationwide.

The STI-UWI board includes Asian Hospital Medical Center (AHMC) medical staff president Dr. Jorge Garcia, RN; STI ESG president and CEO Eusebio H. Tanco; Universal Worker (UW)-Texas partner Allan Dale Danto; UW-Texas partner Dr. Heather Jo Kopecky, RN; Global Resource for Outsourced Workers, Inc. (GROW) chairman Monico V. Jacob; AHMC Patient Care Services director Mila Delia M. Llanes, MAN; Prof. Carmencita Abaquin, RN; LuDoYm Corp. president Douglas Lu Ym; and thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Jose Yamamoto and AHMC consultant for special projects Dr. Annabelle R. Borromeo.