MCC program focuses on non-traditional career roles
Published 4:01 am Friday, April 8, 2016
- Meridian Community College instructor Ron Bullock shows a group of Meridian High School students "Mr. Peterson," a medical mannequin that can blink, speak, and receive a wide variety of treatments. The students were given the demonstration as part of a program to show non-traditional role occupations to men.
A group of 20 Meridian High School students spent a recent day at Meridian Community College learning about non-traditional role occupations for men. These careers include nursing, surgical technology, health information technology, medical laboratory assisting and others.
The Experience the O.N.E.: Hospital Stay event was funded by a grant through the Department of Education.
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MCC President Dr. Scott Elliott stressed to the group that “we are in an age now where anybody can do anything they want to do.”
Gender is no longer that factor that it was in the past, he said.
Elliott gave an example by asking the group if they liked football.
“Who’s ever heard of a person named Kathryn Smith?” he said.
None of the students seemed to recognize the name.
“She is one of the special team coaches for the Buffalo Bills,” Elliott said. “That’s just one example that shows you can do whatever you want to do in this age.”
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During the program, students saw various medical procedures, including triage in a hospital setting.
The program also stressed high school students can begin their medical studies at the Ross Collins Vocational Center, where they can take Health Sciences as a career technology program.
Ron Bullock, a registered nurse and instructor at MCC, explained to the students about HIPPA laws and the need to safeguard the patient’s medical information.
Next, the students split into groups and one group went to MCC’s simulated hospital.
Students train in the simulated hospital to learn how to treat real patients. The mannequins are anatomically correct and can have their vital signs taken and receive other treatments. They can even be shocked with a defibrillator.
The students were engaged and actively learning from the experience.
“This is an exciting thing for our ninth grade students,” said Holli Cobb, a counselor at MHS. “They get to look at non-traditional roles that maybe they have never thought about. Visiting a college and a hospital is really a unique experience for them.”
Student Da’Jon Terry agreed, saying the experience reinforced his decision to pursue a career as a registered nurse.
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