Mia Melendez has always wanted to pursue a career in the medical field.
So, when the Riverside-Brookfield High School freshman learned of a new course titled Health Occupations, she was in, without hesitation.
“When the R-B people came to Gross [Middle School] and told us what classes we could take as electives, the description was interesting,” Melendez said, noting the course will start her down the road toward her chosen career path.
Which is? “I would want to be a doctor or surgeon in an emergency room in a Trauma 1-level hospital,” she said.
That’s a heavy burden, but the semester-long Health Occupations course is getting her ready by teaching her how to take vitals and assess different scenarios when people get hurt. But more importantly, it’s teaching her how to react in an emergency situation.
Her classmate, Nina Johnsen, has learned the acronym EMCAP that is a huge aid when there is a medical emergency: Environment, Mechanism of Injury, Casualty, Assistance and Personal Protective Equipment.
Johnsen said she wants to be either a nurse practitioner or a registered nurse, which harks back to her youth. The course has had an impact on her, but her parents, too.
“I think they really enjoy seeing how excited I am,” Johnsen said. “When I was a little, I played doctor and seeing how I’m learning and comprehending all this information is making them excited for my future.”
Kendra Cagle is in her second year at Riverside-Brookfield, and it’s her first year leading the Health Occupations course, which is available to any student regardless of grade.
“It’s a pretty good mix of freshmen through seniors,” Cagle said, adding a similar course was offered years ago at the school, but a resurgence in interest began after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have a lot of students that are really interested in health careers. This is a good way to find out what it would be like.”
One thing the course – and the real-world work of someone working in a health-related occupation – is not is anything like what is seen on television.
Cagle laughs a little when a student asks if she saw what happened on the latest episode of a show like Grey’s Anatomy. She has to remind them that “it’s not real life.”
What is real is the subject matter that is broken into five units. The first is an introduction to diagnostic services, and how it relates to different body systems. Students learn about things like the difference between hard and soft skills. Hard skills are the things that can be trained for a healthcare job, while soft skills are things communications.
The next unit is about therapeutic services, such as what it is like having a job in cardiac health or any kind of rehabilitation. After that is health information, which includes a lot more than computer work; it provides a look at some of the latest medical technology.
The supportive services unit focuses on things like how to handle transitioning a patient from the hospital to home. Medical research is the final unit and addresses the science aspect of medical care.
“I try to tailor my content to what kids want to learn about, since it is an elective,” she said, noting 26 students are enrolled.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Cagle was in college and mulling what she wanted to do career-wise, so she started in public health, finishing with a degree in family and consumer science. That helped her assume her current role and development of the Health Occupations course curriculum, which she did with Kylie Lindquist, assistant principal of curriculum and instruction.
Here’s another practical aspect of the course for upperclassmen: It feeds into the Dual Enrollment program at Triton College, which has a nursing assistant program. Students attend Triton Monday through Thursday mornings, and then go to a clinical site on Saturdays. Successfully finishing the program earns a student seven credits that are transferable.
“They do a clinical like any other nursing program,” Cagle said. “They wear scrubs. They have to go through a pretty rigorous setup procedure, they must take a test and go through a background check.”
Johnsen isn’t there yet, but said the Health Occupations has been enriching to be sure.
“I think the most interesting thing, and important thing, is how to react to medical emergencies and how to remain calm and know what to do,” she said.