Rafael Corona, RN, MSN, the new director of East Central AHEC, says that health care has always been a passion of his.

Born in Kankakee, where he still lives, he attended Kankakee High School. He started his journey in health care in the last year of high school, when he was caring for his mother who was dying from a terminal illness.

“My mother has a great influence of my career,” he says. As he cared for her during her transition into the afterlife is when the passion for nursing began.

He went on to obtain his associate degree from the nursing program at Kankakee Community College. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree as well as a Master’s of Science in Nursing from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

Rafael has worked as a nursing supervisor on a mental health inpatient unit, clinical services nursing shift coordinator at a state-operated mental health facility, and an outpatient neurology office nurse. He also worked as an occupational health nurse manager at a pharmaceutical company, served as a professor of nursing at Rasmussen University and Moraine Valley Community College.

“Something that I found unexpected in my health care career is the wide range of positions available within the health care system,” he says. For example, during nursing school he wanted to be a wound care nurse, but life had a different plan for him. He worked in mental health for about 14 years. “As we progress in our career we think we know what specialty we want to work in,” he said, “but really our career will guide us to where we are needed.”

Outside of work, he enjoys caring for the animals on his farm. “Currently, I have goats, chickens, ducks, and turkeys,” he tells us.

What advice would he give to students considering a health care career? “A health care career is not just a job; it’s a calling,” he says. “It requires a deep sense of purpose and a genuine desire to improve the lives of others. Stay dedicated, compassionate, and open-minded, and you’ll find immense fulfillment in your chosen health care profession.” (Some more-detailed advice from Rafael for students considering a health care career can be found here.)