Culver High School Participates In Health Occupation Program at Local Hospitals
Eighteen students from Culver High School are currently participating in the Culver Health Occupations program in association with Mountain View Hospital (MVH) and St. Charles Medical Center–Redmond (SCMC-Redmond).
The Health Occupation program immerses high school students into a variety of healthcare careers throughout local hospitals, healthcare and veterinarian clinics. “The goal of the program is meant to give students a broad exposure to healthcare and animal science careers by not being too in-depth in one particular area,” shared Kurt Davis, Health Occupation Teacher.
Students who participate in the program spend one hour a day, two days a week, working in hospital departments such as Surgery/OR, Obstetrics, Laboratory, Imaging/Radiology, Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy and Nursing. The students began their rotation schedule through twelve departments on September 22nd and will continue their rotations through December 10th, lasting one term.
Students are required to attend HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and safety trainings before beginning their rotations and will receive two hours of college credit from COCC.
At the end of the program participating students are required to write a report depicting their experience and coordinate a health fair based upon healthy lifestyles for local youth and senior citizens.
Since the implementation of the program in Redmond in 1997, Kurt Davis has seen students major in Nuclear Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Respiratory Therapy and Nursing, to name a few. “At least 75% of the students enrolled in the Health Occupation program go into the healthcare field,” stated Davis. “The hospitals are excited about the program and have had a great response towards the students.”
The Health Occupation program is funded bya partnership between Cascades East AHEC (Area Health Education Center) and the Partnership to End Poverty. They plan to share the funding for a two year pilot of the Culver High School’s Health Occupation Program.