High School Students Explore Healthcare Fields on Downers Grove Campus

Midwestern University welcomed local high school students for a week of exploration into a variety of healthcare careers during the Health Careers Institute (HCI) on the Downers Grove Campus. They experienced hands-on informational sessions, were guided by student mentors and Midwestern faculty, and informed about classes to take and undergraduate degree options to pursue on the path to healthcare education at Midwestern University. 

Ava Pritz, a senior at Joliet Catholic Academy, shared, “We learned not only what doctors and physicians do, but how they got there.” From her time in HCI, Ava said she will “take away the skills learned and the interactions I had with the mentors learning to be physicians and the physicians they work with.” She also said the session about osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) showed her an option to include in future practice. “I applied for HCI because I enjoy healthcare. It was nice to be around others with the same passion for healthcare,” Ava said.

In the session on OMM, the high school students learned about the history of osteopathic manipulative medicine (using touch to diagnose and treat pain, as well as prevent illness), the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree, and the educational path to receive a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. They also learned about the OMM Scholar Program, where students can add a year to the pursuit of their degree to have an additional specialty. The Midwestern University OMM Student Scholars demonstrated several methods of osteopathic manipulative medicine to the students.

In a session on dentistry, the high school students had the experience of drilling and filling a tooth with a mock cavity in a mold of teeth. They also saw the 3D printing lab where the teeth molds are created. The high school students also worked with a safety needle to learn how to put a syringe together, just as a dentist would do to administer an anesthesia injection. 

During the physical therapy session, the students learned about the field and all the settings physical therapists practice in including hospitals, clinics, and schools. They were taught about pediatric physical therapy and the proper ways to hold, carry, position, and lay a baby on his or her back to sleep and practiced handling a baby with provided dolls. In addition, the high school students learned about and practiced standardized assessments of motor skills.

The high school students also discovered more about a career as a Physician Assistant, and listened for normal and abnormal heart and lung sounds on a mannikin. They also learned and practiced taking blood pressure. During the Clinical Psychology session, the high school students took a personality test, and they learned about different career paths in clinical psychology, such as education and healthcare. The high school students also learned about patients who struggle with communication and swallowing and the ways a Speech-Language Pathologist can assist patients. The HCI participants also had the opportunity to visit the anatomy laboratory and view anatomical specimens, including the human brain. In a session about pharmacy, they learned about several career paths, and how they can earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree five years after graduating from high school.

Chloe Perez, a senior at Addison Trail High School, said, “I really enjoyed the Health Careers Institute. It’s great we learned about a lot of different medical fields.” She also said she learned more about the ways ultrasound can be used beyond pregnancy in women. “We got to see the heart movement.” 

The University student mentors also described their own journeys to healthcare in a Q&A session. They discussed preparation for the MCAT entrance exam. The mentors shared with the high school students that there are many paths to higher education in healthcare, such as work experience during gap years. The mentors also discussed the importance of the support and care from the faculty at Midwestern University. They also advised students about the importance of volunteer work to gain experience with patient care.

The student mentors shared their mentoring experience. Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine student Nick Kathrein (CCOM ’27) said, “I am really passionate about teaching. It is valuable to be in a position where I’m mentoring people.” Nick also said that having the experience of the Health Careers Institute would have assisted him when he was in high school. “I always wanted to be a doctor. It would have solidified my interest,” he said, and added that it is beneficial for high school students to hear about healthcare education from someone closer to their age and simultaneously determine if a career in healthcare is the right path for them. 

Dental student Dami Adedeji (CDMI ’27) spoke about her mentor experience at the Health Careers Institute. “It’s nice to see a new perspective of people in a different phase of life.” Dami added she would be happy to mentor again, especially after seeing the faculty lead the sessions. “I can see myself in their shoes. I’m always going to be doing something like this, mentoring, encouraging, and empowering people going onto the next step,” she said. Dami also shared that if she had this experience as a high school student, then she would have been more self-confident at the time along with the sense that she was doing something for her future. 

Dental student Diem Tran (CDMI ’27) shared the reason she became a mentor. “I’ve had a lot of mentors help me throughout my academic career. Any opportunity I get, I give back.” She also enjoyed seeing what all the healthcare fields had to offer at Midwestern University. “I definitely recommend this for any high school students unsure of their career choices. It exposes them to a lot of different options they might not have learned,” she said. 

High school students also described their experiences at Midwestern University and aspects of healthcare that they learned more about.

Aaron Valyaneth, a graduate of Lemont High School and incoming freshman at DePaul University with a Health Sciences major shared, “This week has been a pleasant surprise.” He said he learned a lot about how deep the field of optometry is. “We learned the actual skills of an optometrist,” Aaron said and added he is considering pursuing optometry in the future.

Sofiya Iovenko, a senior at Lake Park High School, shared, “We learned to do intubation and insert an IV, which you usually do in medical school. I learned a lot of details about the Physician Assistant and dentistry fields.” She also said the experience showed her a lot of pathways open to her in healthcare and solidified her decision to become a dermatologist, which was her plan prior to attending HCI.

Through events like HCI, Midwestern University is invested in providing educational and enriching opportunities for the next generation of healthcare professionals. As high school students contemplating healthcare careers make their decisions, HCI supplemented their knowledge with a plethora of options and resources to help them along their paths.