When Karissa Rubio was a high school junior, she got a part-time job through her high school’s career center as a medical assistant at a family physician practice. “That opened a new world to me,” says Karissa, who grew up in Lawndale, California. “I loved listening to the doctors talk to patients and helping out.”
Karissa worked at that family practice for the rest of high school—and full time after she graduated. The staff there suggested she consider going to school to become a surgical technologist, and she followed the advice. After completing a surgical tech program, Karissa applied to and was hired at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center. She spent the next 14 years there and worked as a part-time travel surgical technologist for part of that time too. “My manager at UCLA was really great about allowing me flexibility to expand my experience,” she says. “I got to work throughout Southern California and in several cities on the East Coast. It was a great experience learning about different types of surgery, and the exposure to different hospitals and cultures taught me to be adaptable.”
Back to School for Nursing
As Karissa gained surgical tech experience, she started thinking about returning to college to become a Registered Nurse. “I noticed that nurses have a bigger role in the operating room, and I wanted to do more in my career,” she says. She started nursing school while working full-time and earned the Associate Degree of Nursing in 2010 at a college in Los Angles..
When one of the surgeons at UCLA Medical Center moved to another healthcare system, it opened up a new opportunity for Karissa as well. “I’m highly specialized in neurosurgery and was that doctor’s righthand surgical tech at UCLA Medical,” she says. Karissa joined the neurosurgical team at Kaiser Permanente in 2011. On the side, she began working as an aesthetic nurse injector at a spa in 2018. A few years later, Karissa launched her own med spa aesthetics business. She splits her time between that and Kaiser Permanente.
Encouraged to Pursue Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
When the Kaiser Permanente hospital earned Magnet designation, Karissa made the decision to enroll in a Bachelor of Science Nursing program, completing the degree in 2023.
“That got me in the school mindset again, and I figured I might as well get a master’s too while I was in the mode,” says Karissa. In her aesthetics practice, she was increasingly seeing women patients who were dealing with symptoms caused by hormonal imbalances. “I kept thinking if I was a Nurse Practitioner, I could become a primary care provider to these women and offer them the care they needed in functional medicine.”
Kaiser Permanente’s Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust provides employees career development, tuition reimbursement and other opportunities. That led Karissa to Post University, with which the Hudnall Memorial Trust has an educational partnership. After researching American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Master of Science in Nursing options, she decided on the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner Specialization and started in 2024.
Excellent Guidance and Support
Karissa will graduate with the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner Specialization in spring 2026. Her goal is to expand her aesthetics practice and incorporate principles of holistic medicine to address health issues that are common for women. “I think holistic wellness is so important, and I am excited to help women who are struggling with symptoms that could be improved if the root issue was addressed,” she says.
At Post University, Karissa has found a supportive and encouraging educational environment. “I’m really enjoying what I am learning, and I feel like I am getting great support from both advisors and professors at Post,” she says. As the mother of four children, Karissa will never hesitate to recommend a career in nursing. In fact, her oldest daughter is in nursing school now. “My kids saw me studying for school throughout their childhoods. I am very glad I became a nurse. It is a career with many options and paths.”