Toxic Coccyx, Sphygmomanometer, The Scrubs, The Future Sutures, Sixth Sense, and 4-Eva Medicine

What do all of these terms have in common? They were the team names chosen by the high school students in this year's Summer Health Careers Institute on the Glendale Campus.

A few Saturdays ago, I got to attend one of my favorite MWU events: the parents' open house for the summer program. Each team of students performed a skit, which tried to represent to their parents what they had learned over the course of the 10-day program. Some used music, others depicted scenes between patients and health providers, and others used dance, specifically "Thriller." The general theme was that this program helped the students explore the many options in health care.

Photo: High school students learn how to "scrub in" at our new Clinical Skills Center

Needless to say, the parents enjoyed every minute of watching their kids being excited about learning and about their career options. We know that careers in health care will continue to be in demand in our society. Even as high school students, knowing all your options--from doctor to dentist to nurse anesthetist and several more in between--is empowering.

Photo: Students learned how to draw blood using this mechanical arm.

MWU's program is coordinated by our Assistant Director of Communications, Karen Mattox. She does a wonderful job every year of coordinating all of the activities, and working closely with our faculty and the students to make sure the activities are interesting and informative. She also recruits and works with our current MWU medical students, who serve as mentors during the program. According to the med students, they get just as much out of the program as mentors as the high school students do.

Photo: Using proper precautions and gowns in the lab

This year's program was funded in part by Wells Fargo. The local representative from the bank was able to come out and talk to the students and parents at the event. Wells Fargo is a wonderful community partner, and they enjoyed seeing firsthand the benefits of this program. With their support as well as funding from MWU, this comprehensive, full-day program is offered for free to the participants.

Thanks to all the MWU faculty, Dr. Kosinski, and Karen Mattox and her team (Janet Reiman and Rhonda Lumm) for all of their hard work in coordinating this program. We hope to welcome back several future MWU students from this year's class someday. And, regardless of their eventual college and career decisions, we know that 50 high school students had an enriching experience learning about health care this summer.