Career and Leadership Development Academy, Cohort Two, Healthcare Day Blog

Throughout the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Development Academy ten month program, each of the eight middle schools are assigned a day to write about their experiences. 51 students from across all eight New Hanover County middle schools participated in the second industry exploration day in Cohort One, Healthcare, on March 6 at Novant Health NHRMC. In addition to learning about the careers at the hospital, they had the opportunity to hear from Thrive Family Dental, Atlantic Prosthetics, and Port City Animal Hospital, three other healthcare related career opportunities. Below is the second blog write up from Cohort One of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Academy experience. 

We began our day with an introduction to Novant Hospital. After this, we went to a lab focused on detecting cancer. There, we learned a blood test is a lab analysis of things which may be found in someone's blood. You may have blood tests to keep track of how well you are managing a condition, and there was a worker who showed us how to see what blood looks like and what is in your blood, such as a disease in your body. With this, you can tell you what you have or not have and it was cool to see the stuff that is in the blood. 

From here we went to the Physical and Occupational Therapy Lab, and this is a very interesting part of the hospital. What they do there is help patients who are recovering but not ready to go home yet. The doctors help the patients gain the strength back that they lost because of their injury. One of the coolest parts of this center is that they have a town simulation center.They also have a real car that patients can practice getting in and out of. They also have a real road to practice walking on uneven ground. Some more things they have there is a golf course because they want their patients to have fun when they are also regaining strength. They also have a fake beach because they told us that a lot of patients' goal is to walk on the beach again. Additionally, they have a bedroom that you would find in a real house and not in a hospital. Patients can practice getting in and out of bed when they leave the hospital. There is also a real kitchen to practice living, cleaning, and making food for themselves when they leave the hospital and go home. One of the coolest parts of the kitchen is that the sink can move up and down at the push of a button, which helps patients who are in wheelchairs. Overall the PT area of the hospital is very cool and very effective to patients. 

After visiting that center, we entered the brain and epilepsy monitoring section. We saw how they monitor the brain, and they do this by connecting different wires to your scalp. To monitor your brain activity, they put this data on a computer screen and you can see when someone falls asleep. Afterward, we went back to the auditorium and listened to the EMT Director. He described how to become a paramedic and how they dispatch. Afterward, we met two pharmacists who explained their jobs and education. She told us a doctor will send a prescription to a pharmacist who will then go over it to make sure it is right for the patient. Afterward, a technician will then send it through tubes which run throughout the hospital and go to a nurse who gives the medication to the patient. There are many places you can be a pharmacist like a hospital, pharmacy, or nursing home. 

A Medical Physicist came and talked about what this job is and how it works. He told us that there are 4 main types: Therapeutic, Magnetic, Diagnostic, and Medical Nuclear. He specializes in Therapeutic and said therapeutic uses specialized light to treat some illnesses. Some things that are part of the job are making sure equipment is working properly, making sure everyone is following the rules, and to help doctors treat their patients. Afterward, we learned about volunteering and therapy dogs. These dogs need to be trained and get insurance if something happens to the dog or the person. We learned if you are 14 or older you can volunteer at the hospital. Overall, we had an awesome visit to Novant and learned so much about working in a hospital and being part of a huge community of people who help others.