Health Science Connection
for K-12 Educators 

Preparing Montana's Students for Careers in Healthcare
In This Issue
MEA MFT
HOSA 101
Hands on Health
Multiple Intelligences
FREE Lesson Plans
REACH
NC AHEC Changes
Career Spotlight: Optometrist
AHEC Basics

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Issue: # 20November/2010

 Connecting Students to Health Careers
Wintry eagle
Greetings!

'Tis the season... to Soar!

What's on your holiday to-do list? Spending time with family and friends? Cooking favorite foods? Enjoying the great outdoors? Taking a relaxing trip? What about expanding your horizons through an externship?
 
What's an externship? Across the country, school systems are realizing the importance of connecting classroom learning to the workplace, and the value of immersing teachers in industry to develop a first-hand appreciation of the hard and soft skills their students will need to be successful in the future.

While you look forward to taking a break from your normal routine, consider whether spending a day -- or a few-- observing on-the-job in a non-school setting. You may be amazed at what you learn!

And, of course, we at Montana's AHECs would be especially delighted to assist you in setting up an externship at a health-care facility in your area. The health care field is one of the most critical to Montana's economy and will only continue to grow as the Baby Boomers age. We hope that many of your students will find their way to health care careers- let us know how we can help them -- and YOU!
MEA MFT Conference Recap

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Thank you to everyone for stopping by our booth at the MEA MFT Conference in Helena on October 21-22nd! It was great meeting new educators from throughout the state and discussing the many ways we can partner together.

 

Congratulations to Jim Oberweiser from Drummond for winning our Amazon Kindle drawing!

HOSA 101
HOSA logoWhat is HOSA?:

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HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) is a nationally recognized Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO). Other CTSOs include BPA, FFA, FCCLA, DECA, and Skills USA. The Mission of HOSA is to promote career opportunities in healthcare and to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare.  Our high school students plan to enter careers in the healthcare industry and HOSA helps these students prepare for this through job shadowing, curriculum integration, and the competitive events program which allows students to practice relevant clinical, teamwork, and leadership skills. 


Current Montana Chapters:

Augusta High School, Billings Career Center, Bozeman High School, CMR High School, Columbia Falls High School, Flathead High School, Great Falls High School, Helena High School, and Sentinel High School. Ronan and Polson High Schools are also looking at starting HOSA chapters soon.


How do we Start a Chapter?:

Any high school has the opportunity to start a HOSA chapter -- you just need a group of at least 5 interested students and an adult willing to serve as the Chapter Advisor. Call Bergen Morehouse, the State HOSA Advisor, to get started! 406-683-2790

www.montanahosa.org or www.hosa.org


Hands on Health in St. Ignatius
Charkoosta News Top StoryHands on Health, the interactive science exhibition about health and health careers, traveled to Saint Ignatius recently for a special event hosted by CSKT Tribal Health Services. Fourth graders from across the Flathead Reservation were invited to a health fair at the Tribal Community Center in Saint Ignatius. There, tribal health professionals and Salish Kootenai College nursing students performed basic health screenings and spectrUM Discovery Area educators shared the fun of health with the students as they explored a life-size x-ray body, giant nose, teaching anatomy torso, and much more. Read more about the event in the CHARKOOSTA NEWS.
Multiple Intelligences Quiz for your students (or you!)
Multiple Intelligences ChartStudents thinking about their futures can benefit from spending time thinking about their favorite subject - THEMSELVES! An important part of career planning is to assess one's own skills, interests, and aptitudes. This link will take you to a self-assessment quiz created by the BBC that provides insight into the quiz-taker's intelligences -- yes, intelligences, plural. You may already be familiar with Howard Gardner's groundbreaking work describing Multiple Intelligences. A Harvard University developmental psychologist, Gardner identified eight different types of thinking and argued that traditional intelligence tests did not effectively capture the many different ways in which people learn, think, and interact with the world. Take the quiz HERE.

Health and Nursing Lesson Plans

Lesson PlansWe at the AHECs spend a lot of time looking around for health science resources for teachers and students-- boy, were we glad we stumbled across this site! A virtual clearinghouse of career exploration and planning resources-- everything from reproducible coloring books to 4-year academic mappers to interactive quizzes and much more. This link will take you to a list of lesson plans in health, with many focused specifically on the career of nursing. Well worth a look!

Upcoming REACH Programs

REACH Programs in Full Swing this Winter

 

REACH (Research and Explore Awesome Careers in Healthcare) Programs have been scheduled around the state and more are in the planning stages. If your high school is interested in participating in a REACH program, please contact your local AHEC office.

Granite County Medical Center in Philipsburg: Wednesday, December 8th. 9-12th grade students from Drummond and Granite County High Schools are attending!

Sheridan Memorial Hospital in Plentywood: Monday, January 10th. 9th-12th grade students from Plentywood, Westby, Medicine Lake, Scobey, Culbertson, and Froid are invited to apply.

 

Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital in Glasgow: Wednesday, January 12th.  10th-12th grade students from Glasgow, Wolf Point, Jordan, Hinsdale, Opheim, Nashua, Frazer, and Lustre Christian are invited to apply.

 

Philips County Hospital in Malta: Thursday, January 13th. 9th -12th grade students from Malta, Whitewater, Saco, and Dodson are invited to apply.

North Central AHEC Personnel Changes

New NC AHEC Director 

 

Jody Haines has recently accepted the position of NC MT AHEC Director.  She is excited to meet the community members and will be busy for the first few months traveling in her region and working on conducting a needs assessment for the region.  She recently graduated from the University of Washington, obtaining her Executive Master's in Healthcare Administration degree.  Prior to that experience, she attended Montana State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion.  Jody is a 5th-generation Montanan and is thankful to be "coming back home".  She enjoys backpacking, skiing, running, and anything that allows her to enjoy the great outdoors. You can contact Jody at 406.459.3792 or [email protected]
Career Spotlight:  Optometrist

 

OptometristDoctors of Optometry (ODs) are the primary health care professionals for the eye. Optometrists examine, diagnose, treat, and manage diseases, injuries, and disorders of the visual system, the eye, and associated structures. They also identify related systemic conditions affecting the eye.

 

ODs diagnose and treat, prescribe medications, perform certain surgical procedures, provide vision therapy and low vision rehabilitation, and assist patients with spectacle and contact lenses. They counsel patients regarding surgical and non-surgical options to meet their visual needs, and in cases involving surgery they provide both pre-operative and post-operative consultation and care. ODs also diagnose systemic conditions that have eye-related symptoms (i.e., diabetes or high blood pressure) and refer patients to other health practitioners, as needed.

 

Optometrists should not be confused with opthamologists or dispensing opticians. Opthamologists are physicians who perform eye surgery, in addition to diagnosing and treating eye conditions. Dispensing opticians fit eyeglasses and contact lenses, following prescriptions written by ophthalmologists or optometrists. U.S. News & World Report listed optometry as one of the Best Jobs for Investigative People, because it's "a profession with a high cure rate, regular hours, good pay, and realistic potential for being successfully self-employed." 

 

Text courtesy of www.explorehealthcareers.org
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AHEC - The Basics
 
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!
Montana AHEC
Sincerely,
 

Montana AHECs (Area Health Education Centers)