Finding A Dream Job

Finding-Dream-Job-1-From the Fall 2012 Vim & Vigor publication

Programs help students discover different career paths

High school juniors and seniors are getting a jump-start on their career plans through St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart and St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago.

Students at Hobart High School and Porter County schools during the 2011–12 academic year had the option of taking EMT training through St. Mary Medical Center. The yearlong course includes CPR training, respiratory emergencies and other basic life-support techniques. It is one of the few vocational programs offered that allows students to immediately begin their careers upon graduation.

Healthcare is one of the No. 1 career pathways for students today,” says School City of Hobart Superintendent Peggy Buffington, Ph.D. “This course gives them the opportunity to use their skills in real world applications.”

Building on the EMT program, St. Mary Medical Center offers avenues to explore other medical careers as well. In conjunction with Project Lead the Way, an innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics education program also being used at the high school, students have another means to interact with healthcare professionals.

This program helps to guide Hobart High School students toward a career in medicine,” says Robert Boby, R.N., EMS manager at St. Mary Medical Center.

Through the partnership between Hobart High School and St. Mary Medical Center, students experience their career interest in a real-world healthcare setting.

They interview staff members to gain insight, advice and learn what the healthcare field is about, Boby says.

Finding-Dream-Job-2Career Camp

Students interested in nursing as a career have been heading to summer camp for more than 10 years. Together with Purdue-Calumet, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago hosts Discover Nursing camps. Nursing 2000 North and the Northwest Indiana Area Health Education Center provide the funding for the camps at several Indiana locations including Purdue-Calumet and St. Catherine Hospital.

During the two-day camp, students spend the first day learning basic nursing skills in Purdue-Calumet campus labs. They spend the next day at St. Catherine Hospital seeing the different types of care they provide.

Students attending the camp find that nursing has a wide range of areas to be involved with—the cardiac cath lab, radiology, the emergency department,” says Sharon Hurd, director of Education Services at St. Catherine Hospital. “They shadow nurses in other hospital departments and get hands-on use of nursing equipment.

Are You Interested in a Career in Healthcare?

For more information on career opportunities with the hospitals of Community Healthcare System, visit www.comhs.org/careers/.

 

 

Photos:

  • Discovery Nursing camp students spend the day at St. Catherine Hospital shadowing nurses in various departments and seeing the different types of care they provide. Pictured from 2011 are, left to right, (back row) Jarell Springfield, Paige Dombrowski, Stephanie Sknerski, Mary Davis, Chakara Adkins, (front) Angelica Cortez, Danielle Vasquez, Aisha Darrough, Marisela Martinez, Christina Anaya, Benjamin Lopez and Marquis Carlton.
  • Project Lead the Way students from Hobart High School attend an orientation session at St. Mary Medical Center to learn more about careers in healthcare.