The Elliot Medical Explorers Program was suggested to me my junior year. I decided to apply my senior year, but it was disbanded. However, a program similar to the medical explorers was formed. The Teen Career Pathways Program was a new program at the Elliot that would allow students to meet professionals in a specialized healthcare field to learn about the many different careers for healthcare. Each week a new specialist would come in to give a presentation and sometimes there was a tour of a certain area of the hospital. Specialists included nurses, wound and ostomy bag nurses, lab technicians, phlebotomists, physicians assistants, EMTs, trauma doctors, pharmacologists, radiologists, nutritionists, surgeons, OR technicians, OR nurses, and sterile processing technicians.

During the program I was able to view the lab that included the blood bank, chemistry, microbiology, hematology, and phlebotomy sections. Within the lab I was able to see high tech data analyzers and learn about the processes of the lab. Within the microbiology lab I was able to view the bacteria that causes strep, pneumonia, and even pseudomonas aeruginosa; a bacteria that causes various types infections and possesses a smell similar to grapes. Within the blood bank I saw the various types of blood and learned about transfusions and which blood can go to whom. I learned about the processes of keeping the blood moving outside of the fridge so that it doesn’t coagulate. Within hematology we viewed the types of machines that test for diseases within the blood and the urine. Hematology also discussed coagulation tests; they discussed the importance of testing a patient before surgery for a coagulation test to see if they were a bleeding risk. Overall the tour of the lab was fascinating, as it’s not a place that any ordinary person would get to view.

Another place I was able to tour was the training stations for nurses. Within the room they had a realistic training dummy. The dummy could mimic breathing with sounds and movement in the chest and they had pre-recorded responses to help with the learning process of asking the patient the right questions. They could make the dummy’s heart start to slow or speed up to train nurses to act quickly in assessing situations, as they would need to act fast in real life. IV bags and shots could also be administered to help nurses perfect their administration of needles. They not only had a realistic dummy for general treatment training, but also specialized ones that included a baby and one women mannequin to help train nurses for delivering babies.  

I also viewed the radiology department where we viewed X-Ray, CT scan, MRI machines. However, my favorite tour was of the operating room. Within the operating room I got to use a laparoscope in a simulation I was using the scope with the camera to insert a small, rolled towel into a styrofoam block with holes the exact size of the rolled towels. I was the first to try and the only person within the group able to use the scope to put the towel into the block. It was a difficult task and the nurses in the room were shocked.

Through the program I was able to arrange an internship with a neuropsychologist at the Elliot’s Memory and Mobility Clinic in Londonderry. It was an experience I will never forget. If you are interested in the healthcare field I strongly recommend this program. The program typically begins mid October and continues through April. There is an application process that includes a form to fill out, similar to that of a job or scholarship application form, an essay, and a recommendation from a teacher.

In order to receive an application and further information please email either:

Kristine Irwin, Director: KIrwin@Elliot-HS.org

Or

Donna Wright, Director: DWright@Elliot-HS.org