Over forty local high school students descended on UCRH’s Lismore campus today for a first-hand and hands-on insight into what a career in health could look like for them.
We hosted and presented the UCRH Health Careers Day in collaboration with Connect Northern Rivers. It was aimed at handpicked senior students from Kadina High School, Summerland Christian School, St John’s College Woodlawn, St Mary’s Casino and Alstonville High School who have an interest in a career in health.
Frances Barraclough, Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Education at UCRH, said the day is an important opportunity to support and nurture the health workforce of the future.
“We want young people from rural areas to see healthcare as a fantastic career option,” she said.
“We support and deliver education around an incredible range of health disciplines at UCRH so we’re able to showcase a real spectrum of options for the high schoolers.
“We had university students who are on placement with us, studying medicine, occupational therapy, dentistry, physiotherapy and speech pathology here to talk with the high schoolers and give them a sense of what to expect if they head in this direction,” she added.
The Health Careers Day will included a panel discussion with current university students and a discussion about what a day in the life of a clinician looks like. UCRH researchers shared their experiences on career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and current medicine students talked the high schoolers through the various exams required to study medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and health science degrees.
The final component of the day, and always the most popular aspect, was the practical workshops led by medical and allied health students as well as UCRH’s team of high skilled clinical educators. Covering suturing, basic life support, clinical nursing skills and more, these workshops were fun but had serious intent.
“By sparking an interest in these talented young students, we wanted to inspire them to pursue careers in health,” Barraclough added.
“They could be the Northern Rivers’ future doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, nurses, so this an important investment in the next generation of rural health care workers.”
