Dr. Charles A. Finch Emergency Medicine (EM) physician Charles A. Finch of Scottsdale Emergency Associates, who works at the HonorHealth Scottsdale Hospitals, recently lent his EM expertise to Mesa Community College students amidst gunshot wounds, burn victims and mental health “patients.”

Finch, an MCC alumnus and medical director of the Fire Science Paramedic and EMT Program, attended the college in 1985.

This spring Finch was part of an intensive two-day Immersive Total Patient Management Evaluation at MCC’s Virtual Incident Command Center. During the evaluation, he worked with students as they responded to mock scenarios that included MCC’s theatre, nursing, EMT/paramedic, psychology and public safety faculty and students, as well as medical students from Midwestern University -- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Finch said he was delighted to return to MCC and be involved in the training exercise. Having been in clinical practice since 1998, he was eager to share the tips he’s picked up over the years.

“The training I received at MCC and Maricopa Medical Center has made me become what I think is a great EM physician,” Finch said. “I want to give back and show students that you can achieve your goals, but it takes the passion of leaders and educators to make sure you get there. I think MCC offers that.”

Finch said he grew up in Phoenix, and his mom still lives in the house he grew up in. He always knew he wanted to be a physician and earned his EMT certification at MCC between high school and college. After completing his EMT certification training at MCC, he graduated from Arizona State University and attended medical school at Des Moines University (Iowa) -- graduating in 1994. He completed his emergency medicine residency training at Maricopa Medical Center in 1998.

“I have a drive to care for the patients and their families that we have in our own community,” he said. “It all goes back to where I trained.”

Finch said MCC has such a great program that educates and trains highly qualified individuals ready to enter into the prehospital setting -- people want to be a part of it.

“The faculty and program director at MCC are phenomenal, and the culture and environment are addictive,” Finch said. “It’s something I want to be involved in and give back to.”

For information on MCC’s Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic Program, visit https://www.mesacc.edu/programs/emergency-medical-technician and https://www.mesacc.edu/programs/paramedic.