Community Hospital - Career Discovery Days

What is it?

Hundreds of students have been exposed to and learned about many medical career fields through Career Discovery Days since its beginning in 2006. Area schools receive invitations, encouraging students to participate. Nearly every area school is represented through student attendees. As many as 130 students have participated annually. Students have the opportunity to learn firsthand by meeting and learning from practicing health care providers and using actual medical equipment.

Laboratory, nursing, information systems, pharmacy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, radiology, physician assistant, surgery, speech therapy, occupational therapy, emergency response team, health information management, among many other medical fields, host presentations. Using pigs’ feet, students learn to suture a post-surgery incision. Students practice taking a blood sample on a dummy arm. They insert IV lines into chicken legs and calculate the correct dosage of food-coloring “medicine.” Students study gelatin “brains” to learn where a stroke in different areas can affect a patient. An automated patient called I-Stan is borrowed from the local community college to simulate different medical conditions for the students to experience in a patient.

Sessions also provide students with information on each of the professions, including job requirements and opportunities, salary, schools, and professional web sites. Subway lunch boxes are provided for the students by Community Hospital. Gifts are given to students for completing a survey of their experience. Scholarships in the amounts of $1,000 and $500 are offered to area seniors interested in the health care field. These scholarships are awarded based on essays written and submitted by students and are reviewed by the Community Hospital Health Foundation’s Education Assistance Committee.

Who is it for?

High school students from area schools.

Why do they do it?

Community Hospital began the program in hopes that the event would pique interest in health careers, and possibly attract young people in the community to work in the hospital. Community Hospital believes that Career Discovery Days improves the health of the community through enhancing the knowledge and increasing awareness of health care fields and advancements and encouraging higher education.

Impact

Hundreds of students have explored the possibility of health careers through Career Discovery Days. Many students have gone on to study various health care fields, and some have even returned to our community to practice.

Contact: Sarah Wolford
Outreach Coordinator
Telephone: 308-344-8550
E-mail: skwolford@chmccook.org