Six graduate as TCC apprenticeship hits first full-cohort completion

Six apprentices finished Tanana Chiefs Conference's yearlong apprenticeship program at the Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks. TCC honored them at a ceremony on July 30 at the health center.

Four completed the Medical Assistant track: Asasha Martin, Chelsea Curwin, Naya Derendoff and Sierra Demoski. Two completed the Referral Coordinator track: Lyco Icalina and Takoda Shoemaker.

TCC said every apprentice who started the program finished it, something that had not happened before.

"This year's cohort was especially meaningful because, for the first time, every participant who began the program successfully completed it," TCC said in its announcement.

The apprenticeship pairs weekly virtual classes with hands-on clinical training over one year. Apprentices work full time and are paid from the time they are hired. TCC says the program is intended to fill open clinical support staff vacancies at the health center. TCC operates the program in partnership with the Alaska Primary Care Association.

TCC said the graduates will support the health and well-being of tribal people and continue serving communities across Interior Alaska.

TCC serves 39 villages across 235,000 square miles, about 37 percent of Alaska. The consortium has run several training pipelines this year. TCC's weekly programming in July 2025 announced four Medical Assistant apprentices had completed the prior cohort. An earlier Alaska News article on the Community Health Aide Program noted TCC recognized three new aides in June, with Loren Thomas going to Tetlin, Chance Shank to Dot Lake and Karissa McCarty into an itinerant role in the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments region.

The account of the graduation comes from TCC's own announcement. No independent confirmation of the ceremony was included in the reviewed materials. The announcement gives no wage figures, no vacancy counts and no measure of how many clinical support positions remain open at the health center.