Adventures in Health Care (AiHC), a Rotary initiative, is a collaboration between the Rotary Club of Terrace, the Rotary Club of Terrace – Skeena Valley, Coast Mountain College, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Coast Mountains School District 82, and Northern Health. The three-day program is a hands-on way for grade 10 and 11 students to explore careers in the health care field.
Students are also able to talk to professionals currently working in the field and learn about educational pathways to careers in health care – including talking to staff from local post-secondary institutions. Hands-on experiences during AiHC include an introduction to CPR, exploring what it’s like to live with physical limitations, and how to safely put on and take off personal protective equipment (PPE).
On May 1-3, Adventures in Health Care Northwest was held in Terrace, with students from both Terrace and Kitimat participating. In all, 37 students took part.
Topics included different careers in health care, such as nursing, different kinds of therapy, paramedics, pharmacy, and the different educational pathways students can take to access those careers.
Day one started at Coast Mountain College’s Terrace campus, where students participated in lab simulations in the morning and spent the afternoon focusing on social work and psychology. The psychology portion of the day was hosted by UNBC.
Day two was Northern Health Day, which took place at the Terrace Health Unit and Terraceview Lodge. A presentation showcased the new Mills Memorial Hospital replacement project (currently nearing completion) and senior staff members from Northern Health introduced themselves:
- Jonathan Cooper, Health Service Administrator for Terrace
- Emily Leblond, Director of Care at MMH
- Carla Lennert, Manager of Terraceview Lodge, Co-planner of AiHC NH day
- Eva Visscher, NW Recruitment and Retention Ambassador, Co-planner for AiHC NH Day
- Kyrsten Thompson, Manager, Community Services at Terrace Health Unit
- Brad Leier, Manager, Specialized Services - Acute/Tertiary at Seven Sisters
Staff from the Terrace Health Unit, Terraceview Lodge and other Northern Health worksites participated in the event. Lunch on Northern Health Day was sponsored by LNG Canada.
“This program is a wonderful opportunity to showcase a cross-section of careers and educational prospects for high school students hoping to pursue a career in healthcare,” said Carla. “The students who are chosen for this program go through a robust application and interview process, which also provides resume-building and communication skills. I think this program is a fantastic opportunity to bolster recruitment to local post-secondary institutions and hopefully persuade the students to remain here as educated professionals.”
Day three was focused on community health, with representatives from optometry, paramedics and pharmacy participating. As well, the students visited a dentist’s office. This day was based on feedback from students last year, who expressed an interest in exploring more community health options. This final day of the AiHC program ended with a feedback session.
Some student favourites (many of them asked to do an additional day!):
- Dissecting eyeballs and brains at Coast Mountain College
- The “Walk A Mile in My Shoes” activity at Terraceview Lodge
- Learning from paramedics about first aid, and exploring an ambulance at UNBC’s Northwest campus
- Taking CPR training at the Terrace Health Unit
AiHC has proven to be an effective way to interest youth in health care careers. This year, Brittany Biggs, a former AiHC student participant, joined the group for the three-day event.
“This has been an amazing opportunity for students to explore the many different pathways health care has to offer,” says Britanny, who’s working towards her own health care career. “For those who knew they wanted to work in health care but were unsure where they’d fit in, the program helped them experience a variety of careers. Building a successful and holistic Northern health care system starts with these students. I’m so grateful I got to be a part of their introduction to it!”
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