A Healthy Education

Oakmont students tour Shriners Hospital for up-close look at health care careers



Photo-Pico Van Houtryve/THE PRESS-TRIBUNE . Oakmont students Sabrina Simpson, Samantha Santos, Zhanna Dariyohuk, Amanjot Bhandal and Maricarmen Aguilera, left to right, attempt to tie their shoelaces with a non-dominant hand during a Burn Awareness Week presentation at Shriners Hospital in Sacramento.
Prosthetic technician Kishor Kumar, above left, aligns the silicone mold of a prosthetic leg for an above-the-knee amputee patient as touring Oakmont High School students look on.

By: Lauren Weber, The Press-Tribune
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
A career in the health care industry isn't for everyone. But some students at Oakmont High School in Roseville have already decided that it's something they're interested in pursuing, even though they are only teenagers.


Last Thursday, more than 60 students from Oakmont High School made a trip to Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento for a career presentation focused on jobs in the health care field.

The students all attend the Oakmont Health Careers Academy, a school within Oakmont High School, for students interested in a career path leading to health care. More than 150 students are involved in the three-year academy that is designed to enter at the sophomore level. To be a part of the program, students must apply, interview, and have an interest in a career in health care, said Hazel Rule, one of the teachers who teaches introduction to medicine at the academy.

"We're looking for people that will benefit from the program," she said. "And we try to get them to see what's out there."

Part of getting students to learn more about the health-related careers, is attending the career presentation at Shriners, which they have done for three consecutive years now, said Wes Muller, academics coordinator at Oakmont High School. This year, their visit happened to occur during the same time as Shriners' Burn Awareness Week, Feb. 3-9. Even though Shriners specialize in orthopedic, spinal cord injury and burn care for children, the presentations last week focused on careers related to burn survivors.

Catherine Curran, the director of public and community relations at Shriners, said that most people think of doctors and nurses when they think of health care, but the students on last week's tour were introduced to three others - social work and physical and occupational therapy.

"They can still contribute in a positive way to health care," said Tiffany Romias, one of the presenters and an occupational therapist with Shriners in Sacramento. "I think it's a great opportunity to have exposure to all the possibilities in health care." One of the focuses for the presentation, Romias said, was to "get a personal connection with people who are already in health care and get a glimpse to what's possible for them."

That's also the concept behind the Oakmont academy.

Stevi Zari is a sophomore with the academy and thought she wanted to be a firefighter when she grows up. But now, she has no idea.

"There are so many options," she said.

During their first year in the academy, students take English, a science class, that is typically biology, history and introduction to medicine. Their junior year's course load consists of English, social science, chemistry and two periods of advanced medical science with hands-on experience at a hospital. During their last year, students take English, government and economics, an advanced elective such as anatomy and two periods of an internship at a hospital.

In addition to the classes, students volunteer their time to Stride for the Cure, Susan G. Komen events and Walk to D'Feet ALS. For two years now students have also made blankets for Shriners' patients. Last year they made more than 100 blankets, Rule said.

"They have about 100 plus hours of experience that a second-year medical student doesn't have," Rule said.

The Oakmont academy works directly with the Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Kaiser Roseville Medical Center and Mercy San Juan Medical Center. Students learn everything from how to read vital signs to bed making. At the high school, they also have a mock hospital room with five beds and EKG machines for student use. In addition, the three hospitals update the teachers on new techniques being used in the field, Rule said.