A unique partnership began two years ago between Centegra Health System and McHenry County College; one that has jointly educated students about the health care industry in the area. The class has been so successful it will continue again this fall beginning August 23.
To people directly involved in the field, health care is a world of its own; a message MCC and Centegra are hoping to send to another classroom full of young adults this fall. The class is Health Profession Career Exploration. It will use an exploratory approach to expose students to a greater understanding of employment opportunities in the field of health and health services.
Steve Osborne, nurse recruiter in the human resources and development department at Centegra Health System, will teach the class and describes it as a comprehensive course that seeks to investigate the health care delivery system, its services and occupations.
Students will be kept busy with a rigorous syllabus that aims to give them an overview of all the information they need to make an informed decision about their possible future role in health care.
“The class investigates specific health careers, including educational requirements, job skills requirements, earnings and advancement opportunities and future opportunities in health care careers,” Osborne said. “These findings are applied to the five pathways of the health science career cluster of therapeutics, diagnostics, health information, support and biotechnology. Each class focuses on one of the five areas and is broken down into sub-sections that include education, licensure/certification, and degree and salary range.”
To motivate students, Centegra health care professionals will present testimonials. They will share why they chose their career path, what a typical day is like in their career and what the most important skills are of their job. The opportunity to see health care professionals firsthand allows students to gain a better understanding of what a career in health care entails. In addition to hearing about a typical day, students will have the opportunity to perform basic simulated hands-on functions that healthcare workers see on a daily basis, tour clinical areas and have the opportunity to shadow professionals, Osborne said.
Health care is a growing field that needs young professionals to continue its success and keep people of the community well. The recently approved 128-bed Centegra Hospital-Huntley will treat its first patients in 2015 and is expected to employ 1,100 area residents.
Osborne said, “This class provides students with the unique opportunity to learn about the myriad of health care career opportunities by attending classes at Centegra Health System, the leading health care provider in the region. The students also get to meet various health care providers through face-to-face interaction, tours, presentations and skill days. The goal of the course is to give students a better understanding of health care and help them make an informed decision about whether to pursue a career as a health care professional.”
To learn more about the class, visit http://www.mchenry.edu.
