Eddie Willson heard from Woodland Hills High School students that they wanted to work in the medical field, but didn’t know how to break in.
“After graduating high school, they’re going into interviews with AHN and UMPC saying, ‘I have a high GPA and I have recommendation letters from my educators, but I have no work experience in the medical field,’ ” said Willson, assistant superintendent at Woodland Hills.
A new partnership will solve that, he believes.
Woodland Hills will pilot a program next school year where up to 15 seniors will take courses related to health care at CCAC Boyce during the school day and also get work experience. The CCAC Boyce campus is a 15-minute drive east of the school.
The partnership is in collaboration with CCAC, the Consortium of Public Education and the Neighborhood Learning Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to improve education and opportunities of lower-income families in Allegheny County.
“There is a need for trained professionals for our hospitals, our doctor’s offices, EMTs,” Willson said. “This partnership is able to help fill that gap.”
The American Hospital Association projects a shortage of health care workers, particularly in entry-level and support roles, to result in a gap of more than 100,000 workers by 2028.
Participating students can earn up to 11 college credits in the program, Willson said. They will also obtain Stop the Bleed and CPR certifications. Students could use the education to jump into the workforce after high school graduation or use it as a steppingstone into college or post-secondary education, Willson said.
Woodland Hills will bus students to CCAC Boyce for the half-day program, Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, students will participate in work-readiness programming like resume building and get hands-on experience in the field.
“They give them both the workforce plus the academics together, so that they understand the requirements and what it takes to achieve the goals that they want to pursue,” said Kashif Henderson, executive director of the Neighborhood Learning Alliance.
Participation in the program is free.
“It really does open so many doors for our scholars in terms of what they can do and how they can get started in the medical field,” Willson said.
Henderson said the program will remove barriers for students looking at future careers in the medical field. It takes advantage of opportunities in the school structure: Already, some Woodland Hills seniors take part in a work-release program where they are able to obtain a work permit and leave school to work.
“These scholars have resume-ready work experience where they’re able to say, ‘I worked with nurses, I worked with a phlebotomist, I drew blood,’ ” Willson said. “Then as an 18-year-old that graduated high school, they can move directly into the career workforce that will continue to get better and better, or they can move directly into school with up to 11 transferable college credits.”
