Moises’ Success Story
Graduating from the Healthcare Training Fund’s Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP) apprenticeship program helped Moises Cortez III channel his compassion and care for others into a meaningful career in behavioral health.
As a Chicano from Los Angeles, Moises Cortez III’s cultural background is centered in family and community. Now, as a graduate of the Healthcare Training Fund’s Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP) apprenticeship program, Moises draws upon this strong foundation as he helps others who are also in recovery from substance use:
“In recovery I was able to repair and continue to cultivate healthy relationships that I never would have thought possible.”
Moises’ path to becoming an SUDP apprentice began at a crucial turning point in his life when he chose to make a career switch after working as an electrician for years. Although it was a well-paying job, the job’s long hours working in the elements left Moises feeling ‘spiritually unfulfilled.’
Seeking a new career field aligned with his goals and aspirations of helping others, Moises was hired at Lakeside Milam in January 2024 and began his SUDP apprenticeship two months later. SUDPs are trained to conduct assessments, counsel individuals and groups, assist in insurance authorization, conduct utilization review, and assist with case management, in addition to other typical associated behavioral health duties.
Moises said his Healthcare Training Fund instructors and fellow cohort members supported his career progression with ‘compassion, empathy, clinical expertise, and flexibility.’ Thanks in part to their support, he pursued an opportunity to provide care for patients at the Lakeside Milam Recovery Center’s Partial Hospitalization Program. Moises says his cohort’s encouragement helped him as he entered this new area of clinical responsibility:
“I was motivated and informed by not only the instructors but my peers within my cohort. What helped me was that I knew once a week I could discuss my challenges, barriers, ideas, and experience with my cohort to help process this new journey.”
Moises says his mentors and cohort members also helped him learn the importance of self-compassion, self-care, and work-life balance, values that he continues to build on throughout his career:
“This program has helped all of us contribute to the greater goal of serving our community’s welfare and health, but we cannot do that if we do not take care of ourselves. We are all individuals with individual needs, wants, and challenges, and we must tend to ourselves the same way we tend to those we serve, with love, care, and compassion.”
Learn more about the Substance Use Disorder Professional program and other Healthcare Training Fund apprenticeship pathways.
