Hands-on experience gives high schoolers a look at their health sciences education

Hands-on experience gives high schoolers a look at their health sciences education

Success stories start as dreams we harbor in our youth. Career days such as the third Future Health Professionals Conference Nov. 23 help fill in the critical details that make it believable.

Nearly 100 students from 11 counties in central and eastern North Carolina made the trip to Greenville and the Health Sciences Campus of East Carolina University for the event hosted by ECU Health and the university.

D.H. Conley senior Chance Frederick of Greenville was one such student, but one of only a handful who had taken part in the very same event last year.

"I was really amazed the first time by everything they offered me, especially the hands-on experience in the dental clinic. It really made me want to come back," he said. "And just being able to network and meet people, to see these faces that I just know will be really beneficial for my future, I can't get that anywhere else."

Investing in the Future of Health Care

Students listened to medical professionals speak about their career arcs, then walked to nearby schools of medicine, dental medicine and nursing to tour facilities and experience hands-on curriculum at training stations and simulations.

"Engaging high school students early is crucial to addressing the national health care shortage, especially in rural areas like eastern North Carolina," said Koai Martin, an equity and special projects consultant for ECU Health.

Both the health system and the medical school have a demonstrated history and mission of training and employing health care professionals to work in underserved areas of the state. Efforts such as the Future Health Professionals Conference help "create a pipeline of providers and health care professionals who understand the unique challenges of rural health care," she said.

"Ultimately, it's about investing in the future of health care while uplifting the region our ECU Health and ECU medical school proudly serve," Martin said.

Several students from the Brody School of Medicine led hands-on life support demonstrations and Stop the Bleed simulations. Dr. Calvin Blocker, a resident physician at the school and ECU Health, discussed the epidemiology and pathophysiology of strokes and methods for detecting and identifying stroke symptoms that concluded with an interactive experience involving the examination of brain models and specimens to show areas commonly affected.

"The Future Health Professionals Conference gives high school students insight into the daily lives of our students and the responsibilities of practicing professionals," said Milton Bond, who directs the medical school's Pathways to Health Careers Program. "It is important for ECU to commit resources to support initiatives like this to invest in building the future health care workforce."

In the Middle of the Journey

"I knew I wanted to be a dentist from about 10 years old, but I didn't get to do anything like this, and no one in my family was in the medical or dental field," said Dr. Scarlett Walston, a clinical assistant professor in the School of Dental Medicine. "I think it's really cool just for them to be able just to explore. Maybe one of them falls in love with dentistry, and maybe we'll see them in the application cycle in a few years."

Walston said preparing for the DAT - the Dental Admissions Test - is something some committed students begin even in high school. Outreach such as the conference can give young students a shot of hope at a time when they might feel bewildered and disadvantaged nagivating such a competitive tract.

"Helping the next generation find their path is always important," she said.

Jennifer Kovacs is a career nurse and health sciences high school teacher who brought eight students to the conference from Dare County. She says health care is a wide-ranging industry that employs trades and hourly workers alongside highly trained specialists.

"There are so many opportunities. If blood and sickness are too much, there's a cubicle you can sit in and be by yourself and still contribute to health care," Kovacs said. "There's a microscope; be a researcher developing a new drug or running lab tests. You can sterilize surgical equipment - another surgery cannot begin until you've sterilized from the last one."

Her students, she says, are weighing careers on several factors. Passion is one, but years spent in college and student debt factor into plans.

"Health care is not just doctors and nurses. It is other clinicians. It is secretaries. It is custodial, meal services, environmental services. And it is a family. … and therefore you can get students involved in any of those aspects," she said.

Frederick, the 17-year-old senior, put his statistical chance of eventually becoming a dentist at the dizzying tip of the range, 99%.

"I've wanted to be a dentist ever since I was 3 years old," he said. "That was the age of my first dental appointment. If I've been into it for 14 years at this point, I think I can take the next 14 to make it happen."

And he expects to make this dream a reality right in his hometown, at East Carolina University.

"Today, I got to meet with a bunch of second- and third-year dental students. I got to walk right into the lab and immerse myself, and they made me feel included," he said. "So even though I haven't started, I saw what it was like to be in the middle of the journey, and it makes me feel like, you know what, I can really do this."

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