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| Research and Explore Awesome Careers in Healthcare |
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R.E.A.C.H. continues to grow with a program for the students of Sheridan and Twin Bridges! |
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| Greetings!
Summer is here, and you and your students are wrapping up the last few weeks and days of the school year. What will your students take with them as they head on to their next school year... or to college... or to the workforce?
As an educator, you hope they take with them a love of learning; a solid foundation of knowledge and skills; self-confidence; care for others; a sense of purpose and hope for their future.
Across the country and right here in Montana, efforts are underway to support the work that you do in helping students to follow their dreams, and to find success and love of learning, right now and lifelong. Montana's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) are a resource for networking, ideas, and opportunities to encourage awareness and interest in career opportunities that utilize scientific, practical and interpersonal skills.
Thanks for your work all year long. Enjoy a well-deserved break this summer, and get recharged and ready for a new start in the fall. |
| Another R.E.A.C.H. Program is a Success! |
The Ruby Valley Hospital in Sheridan opens its doors to students for hands-on learning 
On May 12, 2009, 22 high school students from Sheridan and Twin Bridges participated in the second R.E.A.C.H. (Research and Explore Awesome Careers in Healthcare). program. The students had the chance to spend an entire day experiencing the life of various healthcare professionals, as part of the new program developed by the South Central Montana AHEC.
R.E.A.C.H. at The Ruby Valley Hospital included the following stations: Laboratory, Emergency Room, Radiology, Physical Therapy, Medical Office, and Clinic Nurse. Dr. Tom Bartoletti, DMD, lead a dental station and the local ambulance crew led an EMT station.
The goal of R.E.A.C.H. is to expose students to the opportunities available in healthcare careers. Too often students think healthcare means only "doctors and nurses;" although this is a large component, it is far from the case! Many students aren't aware of the vast array of healthcare careers available to them, including lab technicians, radiology technicians, physical therapists, medical coders, or even surgery technicians. In addition, often students don't realize that many of these jobs require only a Certificate or Associate level degree and provide excellent wages and benefits. R.E.A.C.H. is designed to open student's mind to the possibility of working in healthcare and to the possibility of staying in rural Montana, where we see some of the worst workforce shortages.
The South Central MT AHEC plans to partner with other schools and healthcare facilities throughout the state to bring R.E.A.C.H. to these communities. A R.E.A.C.H. for Eastern Montana is currently being planned for June 27, 2009 at the MSU-B College of Technology.
For more information about R.E.A.C.H. or to find out how you can bring this new program to YOUR school, contact Bergen Morehouse, SC MT AHEC Program Coordinator, (683-2790) or bergen@mtha.org |
| Health Science Websites Worth a Look... |
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Check out this month's featured websites
Want to take a look at a rich and highly user-friendly health science curriculum? Take a look at http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu/curriculum.asp to see what educators in Texas have been developing for over twenty years. Organized by age range and subject area, the site lists literally hundreds of lesson plans for hands-on, active learning about health science, healthy bodies, and health careers. Topics range from Nutrition and Body Image to Forces and Motion in the Human Body, to Brain Anatomy to Media Evaluation to Research Organization and much more. With clear, step-by-step lesson plans, teacher background information sheets, materials lists, and suggestions for modifications and extensions, the lessons are useful as a set or as individual enrichment activities. "The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms and their evolutionary history (phylogeny). Each page contains information about a particular group. ToL pages are linked hierarchically, in the form of the evolutionary "tree of life." Starting with the root of all life on earth and branching out to individual species, the structure of the Tree of Life Project illustrates the genetic connections between all living things." This virtual Tree has been in development since 1993, and it is very easy to become fascinated by the tracing of connections, the discovery of strange and interesting species, and the images that accompany many of the informational pages. An especially fun are the "Treehouses" - pages, sprinkled throughout the ToL, designed specifically for kids, teachers and 'the young at heart-with games, stories and other activities that enhance the Tree of Life's educational value. http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html |
| Continuing Education Opportunity of the Month |
| But wait! (you say) Summer vacation has started!
It's true - the great outdoors, the backyard barbecue, and that mystery novel are beckoning. But summer is also a great time to step out of the busy-ness of the school year and into a reflective and reinvigorating time. What better way to ensure that next school year will find you excited, energized, and eager than to add to your toolbox during the summer months? Here is a free online opportunity to do just that, from BioEd (online biology teacher resource)
Food and Fitness funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through a cooperative agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, offers teachers and students an opportunity to explore research that uncovers ways to reduce space-related health problems through diet, exercise or rehabilitation, which will contribute to the development of prevention and treatment programs for osteoporosis and other bone disorders, muscle wasting diseases and many other illnesses.
Food and Fitness begins with an informative presentation on Adolescent Nutrition. Seven classroom activities are demonstrated in this online workshop, helping students examine techniques to make life-long healthy meal and activity choices, such as determining the proper serving size, understanding food labels, and assessing proper nutritional and exercise choices. Description of all of the activities, including reproducible pages for students, can be downloaded in PDF format.
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| Health Career Spotlight: Respiratory Therapist |
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A Career You May Not Have Thought Of...
Respiratory therapists are a vital part of the health care team in hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities. Respiratory therapists evaluate, treat, and manage patients with a wide variety of respiratory problems and illnesses.
According to the University of Montana's College of Technology, their work includes:
· acquiring and evaluating clinical data;
· assessing the cardiopulmonary status of patients;
· performing and assisting in the performance of prescribed diagnostic studies, such as drawing blood samples, performing blood gas analysis, pulmonary function testing, and electrocardiograms;
· utilizing data to assess the appropriateness of prescribed respiratory care;
· establishing therapeutic goals for patients with cardiopulmonary disease;
· participating in the development and modification of respiratory care plans;
· case management of patients with cardiopulmonary and related diseases;
· initiating ordered respiratory care, evaluating and monitoring patients' responses to such care, modifying the prescribed respiratory therapy and cardiopulmonary procedures, and life support endeavors to achieve desired therapeutic objectives;
· initiating and conducting prescribed pulmonary rehabilitation;
· providing patient, family, and community education;
· promoting cardiopulmonary wellness, disease prevention, and disease management;
· participating in life support activities as required; and
· promoting evidence-based medicine; research; and clinical practice guidelines.
Preparation to become a respiratory therapist is generally one year, and results in an associate degree. Programs in Montana in respiratory therapy are located at the University of Montana's College of Technology in Missoula, and Montana State University's College of Technology in Great Falls.
The employment outlook for respiratory therapists is outstanding; the median wage for this profession in Montana is $45,000, and according to a national study, 75% of working respiratory therapists found their job within a month, and 42% within one week of looking.
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| What is AHEC? And how can they help me? |
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The Montana AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) mission is to improve the supply and distribution of healthcare professionals.
We are developing programs and partnerships with K-12 schools to inform and excite students about healthcare careers. Whether it be doing a puppet show about health for 2nd grade students, or setting up job shadowing opportunities for high school students, we are working to develop health science education and exposure to healthcare careers.
Critical shortages of health care personnel across the country and here in Montana mean unprecedented opportunities for young people to pursue challenging, interesting, rewarding and well-paid career paths in the health professions.
Montana's Area Health Education Centers are your partners in helping young Montanans explore their career paths, and reach their career goals. |
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This E-News is being sent to you by the Montana Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) in order to open a dialogue among educators about Health Science Education for K-12 students of Montana. Through this newsletter we intend to:
1) build a shared resource of activities, materials, and lesson plans to draw on in teaching the health sciences
2) highlight the cross-curriculum nature of the health sciences
3) build an interest in and awareness of health career paths for students in the state of Montana
Please contact us with your comments, ideas, questions or projects you'd like to see highlighted in future issues of this e-newsletter. And thank you for the work you do every day to inspire and support Montana kids! | |
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Sincerely,
Bergen Morehouse
South Central Montana Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
Representing all Montana AHECs |
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