Tacoma students soon will be able to kick-start a career in medicine while still in high school
High school students who aspire to careers in health care may no longer have to wait for college to get hands-on learning experience.
Tacoma Public School District plans to roll out a new program in the fall aimed at preparing students for a pathway into a variety of health care and medical positions. The Health and Medicine Academy (HAMA) will kick-start at Stadium High School with 77 students from the class of 2022.
"Our kids go into high school thinking if you want to go into a medical field, you got to be a nurse or you got to be a doctor and that’s all they know," said Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent Carla Santorno. "They don’t know there are steps in between. They don’t know that you can be something that’s less than a nurse and work your way up and get it paid for."
A high volume of medical professions go unfilled each year, some only requiring a high school degree at entry level, Santorno said. They include medical assistant and orthopedic technician, according to district records. HAMA is designed to give kids a pathway into the medical and health care industry at the high school level.
The program, which is estimated to cost $250,000 in the first year, will be held in three block periods with courses in biology, allied health/Healthcare careers and medical information technology. TPS hired three full-time employees to teach the courses in the fall.
The inaugural class of HAMA students was selected through a first come, first served process. The program was opened up to incoming Stadium students, receiving 90 applications. A number of students adjusted and backed out, leaving 77 students in the pilot program. The acceptance process after the first year will depend on how the program grows, said Kathryn McCarthy, TPS strategic communications and marketing manager.
Santorno said the program benefits under-represented kids who might be interested in medical professions but are unable to finance an education at a four-year institution. Students involved with HAMA will receive dual-enrollment credit that can be applied to two-year or four-year degree programs.
HAMA comes as a result of a substantial community partnership between companies and institutions from across the community, including UW Tacoma, Tacoma Community College, CHI Franciscan Health and MultiCare Health System.
Stadium High School was chosen as the pilot location because of its student-body diversity and proximity to Tacoma's medical mile, said Santorno. While HAMA is only open to Stadium students in the first year, Santorno said it eventually will open up to high school students across the district.
“Our staffs are so excited," said Lois Bernstein, chief community executive at MultiCare Health System. "We’ve said, ‘Hey, we are going to be looking for mentors,’ and every level said, ‘Hey, I want to do that!’ It’s really a cool thing for our employees to be able to (do this)”
Meredith Spelbring: 253-597-8509
This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Tacoma students soon will be able to kick-start a career in medicine while still in high school."