Career exploration takes flight for Lincoln Northwest students

StarCare landed a medical helicopter on the Northwest High School practice field in early October, transforming the athletic space into an experience lab for Bryan College of Health Sciences Focus Program students. 

“We wanted to go big with our first professional interaction with students,” Bryan College of Health Sciences Focus Program director Jason States said. “Let’s bring someone in that the students are going to enjoy. I know that the StarCare crew interacts with the students really well.”

The team talked about their journeys to their current job and how they care for patients daily while showing their equipment. They also allowed students to climb in and explore the helicopter. 

 

“I think it was a really cool opportunity to see what a future in the medical field could be like for us, especially for me since I want to go into trauma or something like this. I think it was cool to see how real people work in this industry,” Northwest junior Feryal said.

The experience came as a part of the focus program’s Intro to Health Sciences class where students discover different health careers. 

“I think especially with what we do, there are so few folks that get an inside look into what we provide for our patients. There’s a misconception of it being a specialty trauma-only focus, but in reality we do a lot of critical care medicine with facility transports,” StarCare flight nurse Mike Dvorak said. “It’s just not something that comes to the forefront of someone’s mind when they think of a possible medical career.” 

The Bryan Health Sciences Focus Program opened at Northwest High School this year. Northwest students begin pre-course work in ninth and tenth grade, then enter the program their junior year. Currently, there are 14 students enrolled. Students get to learn about medicine while earning college credit through Bryan College of Health Sciences. After this semester, all participants will be certified nursing assistants. The program’s director said his goal is to expose students to various medical professions, not just physicians. 

“This is really, really unique. There are so many programs out there, but programs like this help get students started doing what they want to do,” junior Alexis said. 

“We want students to explore careers. We want them to confirm something or maybe help them figure out ‘hey, this isn’t right for me’ and knock out some college credits while they do that, States added.

The Bryan College of Health Sciences Focus Program at Northwest High School will host two open houses on Oct. 17 and Oct. 20.

If you’re interested in this focus program or want to learn more about other LPS Focus Program opportunities, visit  https://home.lps.org/focus/. 

Check out highlights of StarCare’s visit at Northwest below. 

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