Health care: basic training

WESTFALL — Susan Briggs, R.N. began a program at Delaware Valley High School in 1978. The program, which is run through Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA), affords tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade high school students both classroom and hands-on experience to prepare them for a variety of careers in the health field. “This program was my idea, it’s my baby, and it’s been running thirty years,” Briggs said. The training prepares students for careers as a doctor, nurses, physical or respiratory therapist, dentist, veterinarian, or for a career in child care. The classes run two periods daily, five days per week. Monday through Thursday. Using the text, “Diversified Health Occupations,” the students learn medical terminology and basic information necessary for medical careers. They also practice life skills, such as checking for vital signs, First Aid, and CPR while engaging in the classroom-learning portion of the program. On Fridays, November through March, the students are taken to Twin Cedars, an assisted care facility in Shohola, and April through June the program runs in Belle Reve, in Milford. At these assisted care facilities, the first-year program covers teaching students basic patient care skills including how to walk patients or residents and also how to assist them with their wheelchairs. Students get hands-on interactive experience; they play games with the residents, learn how to communicate with the elderly, and how to encourage residents to eat. The second-year program deals with legal issues and safety. “It’s a sue-happy society, and students learn how to protect themselves legally,” Briggs noted. In-class training covers the world of work regarding how to write a resume, interviewing skills, and even how to keep employed. Second-year students learn hands-on at Bon Secours Hospital’s St. Joseph’s Long-Term Care Facility, which is situated within the hospital. There they learn more advanced skills including taking vital signs. The third-year program trains students in measuring fluids from patients, such as their input and output of urine. The students also learn how to operate patient care equipment, including oxygen and IV hook ups. The program teaches medical math, and how to measure medication doses. In this phase of the program, students focus on their career paths. Briggs explained, “In the third-year program, students are able to pick their area. Some will learn on the Same Day Surgery ward, others to Obstetrics, and some will pick the Emergency Room.” The program also gives students credit for volunteer hours, which can help them on college applications. The students are encouraged to participate in state competition, usually in April, which is run by HOSA. “This year I had 19 state winners,” Briggs announced proudly. During the competitions, students actually set up scenarios, such as reenacting an accident and how an EMT would respond. According to Briggs, the program runs with about 80 percent female students. This basic training for aspiring doctors, nurses, and other health-care aspirants gives future medical professionals a solid start with in-depth classroom learning and detailed hands-on experience.