SRU event introduces local high school students to health care professions
From left, Joyan Urda, Slippery Rock University associate professor of exercise science, helps Rhenna Humphrey, a junior at Slippery Rock Area High School, check her pulse with a Doppler ultrasound device at a learning lab, Nov. 25, as part of the University’s new “Healthcare Next Generation” program.
Nov. 26, 2024
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — With nearly 2 million openings per year, health care workers are projected to be in high demand in the next decade, far more than other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Slippery Rock University is helping address the needs of the industry, not just by educating and training college students, but by introducing high school students to possible careers.
SRU hosted its first workshop series titled "Healthcare Next Generation," Nov. 25, at Patterson Hall for 32 students from Slippery Rock Area High School. Students could choose to attend up to four 30-minute "learning lab" sessions in different health care disciplines, each hosted by SRU faculty and students from 11 academic departments and programs. After attending the learning labs and having lunch at SRU, the students were bussed to Grove City to take a tour of Allegheny Health Network Grove City Hospital where they could see direct care applied in the workplace.
"Our goal is to build up the next generation of health care workers," said Christine Karshin, dean of the SRU College of Health Professions. "SRU serves as a conduit between introducing high school students with all the different health professions that are out there, particularly the ones that we have programs for, and then we introduce them to the hospital setting so they can learn about the different professionals and see them in action."
The learning labs included hands-on, interactive demonstrations where the high school students acted as the clients and SRU faculty and students served as practitioners, or vice versa. For example, there was a physical therapy lab where students learned about helping clients with restricted mobility by maneuvering a wheelchair through a course. The occupational therapy lab was set up as an escape room, where students completed tasks as if assisting a client with a visual impairment.
Students like Rhenna Humphrey learned the proper ways to take someone's blood pressure and use a stethoscope.
"This has shown me more depth of what I would like to do and things that I didn't know about it," said Humphrey, a junior at SRAHS who is interested in physical therapy. "I just want to help people, especially when you see people who can't even take a step, and you can be the reason that they walk again."
"This has been a fun, interactive experience and everyone has been really nice and able to answer my questions," said Jacob Kunsam, a junior at SRAHS. "Getting involved has really opened my eyes to what can go on in things like physical therapy."
Chris Mooney, a health and wellness teacher at SRAHS, helped source students for the program from the high school's health and anatomy classes.
"This gives kids an opportunity to figure out what they want to do," Mooney said. "They might find their passion or realize that something isn't for them. That might not happen during this program, but they get to see what it looks like in a college setting and see students working alongside professors and have the networking and collaboration. That's a neat component."
Organizers of "Healthcare Next Generation" are seeking to expand the program and host it twice a year and invite students from other high schools and partner with more health providers.
For more information, contact the College of Health Professions at 724.738.2224, email chp@sru.edu, or visit the CHP webpage.
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu