High school students visit CSC for health professions showcase

Students from regional high schools gathered for the Healthcare Professions Showcase in the Student Center Wednesday.
The CSC Health Professions Department, in association with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Area Health Education Center (AHEC), and Chadron State College Admissions, sponsored the event, according to Director of Health Professions Kristal Kuhnel.
In hopes of showing young aspiring healthcare professionals the intensity of any healthcare-related program, the Healthcare Professions Showcase featured speakers from UNMC and CSC, educational material about the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP). It also featured special presentations on required classes, financial aid, and college activities. More than 200 students from three states were registered to attend, not counting the approximately 40 parents and chaperones that accompanied them, making this one of the Health Professions Department’s biggest recruitment events, according to Kuhnel.
Students primarily registered for the event through their high school guidance counselors. Toward the beginning of the current school year, Kuhnel sent out information packets to every high school in Nebraska, and to several high schools in Wyoming and South Dakota, that were included in Chadron State College’s “area.” The students that attended the showcase divided into three groups, which took turns going to advising panels, educational modules, and tours of the college’s gross anatomy lab. Different clubs and programs from UNMC, AHEC, and CSC hosted booths for the students to learn more about prospective courses of study and activities.
Kuhnel hopes that the event will help the students know for certain whether or not a career in healthcare is best for them and their interests. The Healthcare Professions Showcase is designed to appeal to hardworking students with an interest in math and science. It also helps students who lack these qualities decide against investing their time in health professions-related classes. The hosts of the event also provided the students with information related to RHOP and financial aid, as well as lists of courses that would be required for them to go into specific fields. Students could also schedule additional advising sessions if they wished.
Kuhnel recommended that high school students that hope to become involved in a healthcare-related field take as many math and science-related classes as possible, job shadow, and explore many different fields during their high school careers. According to Kuhnel, another Healthcare Professions Showcase will likely take place next year.