Students participating in the MassAHEC HOSA conference on Saturday, April 5 at UMMS observe a demo in the AED/EKG simulation lab.
More than 200 Massachusetts high school and college students got a hands-on introduction to health careers at the MassAHEC HOSA leadership conference at UMass Medical School April 5, according to an article in the Sunday Telegram & Gazette.
"I'm thinking of becoming a dentist," Worcester's North High School junior Kehinde Abegunde told the Telegram & Gazette while making a resin tooth. "It opens my eyes."
The fifth annual State Leadership Conference, hosted by the Massachusetts Area Health Education Center Network (MassAHEC) within UMass Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine division, aims to increase statewide access to educational opportunities in health care to high school and college students. MassAHEC serves as the state affiliate of HOSA-Future Health Professionals, a national organization.
"Our outreach has been quite focused on communities that are underserved," said Sharon A. Grundel, MEd, workforce development manager for the network, who told the Telegram that the event aimed to present information about health professions to students who might not otherwise be exposed to them. "The opportunities don't exist in their schools."
Students at the conference participated in 21 competitions, four seminars and nine hands-on clinic stations that included prosthetics, vital signs, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, dentistry and AED/EKG simulations.
Jorge Sanchez, Jr., assistant director of the Office of Massachusetts Client Relations at UMass Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine division, delivered the keynote address.
Read the full Telegram & Gazette article UMass Medical career event draws 240 students, and view the Telegram & Gazette slideshow.
In related news coverage, on Monday, April 7 NECN/Charter TV3’s Worcester News Tonight interviewed MassAHEC HOSA participants at North High School.
