Russian native Nina Goloubeva joins RLC as Medical Assistant Program Director

INA, Ill. (Sept. 4, 2015) - Living away from home can be tough, especially when that home is 6,000 miles away. It’s a familiar experience for Dr. Nina Goloubeva of Tomsk, Siberia, Russia who was recently appointed Medical Assistant Program Director at Rend Lake College.

Goloubeva came to RLC from California, where she’s been living and working since 2002. She began working as a Medical Assistant Instructor at Bryman College in San Jose, Calif., and moved on to teaching at Heald College in San Francisco, Calif., in 2005, where she was later promoted to the Director of Healthcare programs.

Dr. Nina Goloubeva

Moving from Russia to California wasn’t an easy transition for Goloubeva, who didn’t start learning English until later in life. Now she says she’s experiencing yet another new world - the Midwest.

“I decided to make a change in my life many years ago, so I started learning English around 45 years old,” said Goloubeva. “When I moved to California in 2002, that was my first culture shock. Now I’m in my second. The people here are very nice, and very different from those in California.”

Goloubeva, who is certified in medical assisting by the National Healthcareer Association, initially started her career as a practicing physician in Russia, where she specialized in pulmonology for more than 20 years at the Siberian State Medical University in Tomsk. She graduated with a first professional degree in medicine from Siberian State Medical University in 1978.

It wasn’t until she moved stateside that she began teaching, and now she’ll never go back.

“When I immigrated to the United States, I entered into the field of medical education and found I was able to transfer my love of medicine to my students. This academic pleasure of transferring my knowledge to students has given me enormous satisfaction,” said Goloubeva. “My teaching and management has been appreciated by students with many different cultural backgrounds.”

At RLC, Goloubeva says she has found a community she likes, and is constantly impressed with the students, faculty, and staff.

“I found the teaching philosophy of the college is the same with mine. I am also impressed with the wonderful people at the college who care about each other and students,” said Goloubeva. “I like college very much, and I was very impressed in the interview with Rend Lake and the team here. The college isn’t very big, but it’s big enough, and everyone cares about each other and supports each other.”

Now a resident of O’Fallon, Goloubeva came to Illinois with her husband for a change in scenery. She’s found that the fast-paced environment that was California is much different than her life in Southern Illinois. The students, she says, are also very different.

“My students, I call them my angels, because they are so different from students in California,” said Goloubeva. “Many of them come from challenging backgrounds and they are trying to change their life. That’s something I understand and respect. I work my best to help them. They value their time, and my time, and they’re always taking notes - every word I say. It’s very different.”

This year, her goal is not only to inspire her students, but also to help them grow and continue on after graduating from RLC.

“I enjoy the interaction with students, the challenge of being an effective communicator, and the sense of responsibility toward the student’s education,” said Goloubeva. “The goal of my teaching is not only to deliver knowledge to students, but also to create in my students an enthusiasm and curiosity toward the love of learning.”