by Tara Beverly

On Saturday, Nov. 13, Southeastern Ohio middle-school students had an opportunity to explore their interests in science and health careers at “Health Care Professions and the Cycle of Life.” “Health Care Professions and the Cycle of Life,” sponsored by OU-COM’s Health Careers Opportunity Program, was a fun-filled educational fair of exhibits, games, hands-on labs and workshops designed to introduce young people to, and stimulate interest in, the variety of science and health-care related vocations that are available to them as they pursue their educations. The fair was held at Grover Center.

Professionals from nursing, pediatrics, geriatrics, osteopathic medicine, mental health and community health were on hand to talk with students from Vinton County Junior High School, Meigs Middle School, Alexander Junior High School and Trimble Middle School. OU-COM medical students also supervised activities at fair. The middle-school students are members of HCOP’s Science and Health Careers Club.

The Science and Health Careers Club is an academic year-long program for seventh- and eighth-grade students interested in science and health-related careers. Members also learn about the importance of preparation for college and developing cultural competency as health-care professionals. This year the club had 58 members.

Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., OU-COM’s director of interdisciplinary mental-health education, worked with groups of middle-schoolers during the day at a computer lab. Hamel-Lambert’s interactive workshop explored personality and mental health. Students also took an online personality quiz.

“The online personality quiz helped introduce the kids to personality research and the field of mental health,” says Hamel-Lambert. “It also exposed them to technology. Most of the kids were very enthusiastic and interested. Each of them got a printout of their personality type. Middle-school kids are very young and in very early stages of thinking, and this fair allowed them to consider opportunities they might not otherwise learn of.”

Another workshop, “Geriatric Medicine,” conducted by Deborah Meyer, OU-COM’s geriatric medicine administrator, was designed to help young students understand the value of working with geriatric patients.

“How many of your grandparents are 65 and above?” asked Meyer students.

A majority of them raised their hands.

“Then this lab will be very important to you,” she added.

Meyer, who made the front of the room into a gigantic tic-tac-toe board, divided the students into two teams. She then asked each team a true or false question about the elderly. Prizes, including calculators and pencils, were given to the winning team.

During the course of the workshop, the middle-schoolers were put through a series of sensory exercises. They put on goggles that were rigged to mimic cataracts and blindness in the elderly, headphones that mimicked hearing loss, and performed a task that simulated the difficulties of arthritis.

Yet, Meyer’s overall message to them was that being elderly didn’t mean that the elderly couldn’t be active and productive.

“My 76-year-old mother can still beat me down the slopes when we go skiing in New Hampshire,” Meyer told the students, to which they cheered and laughed.

Students, who bounced from activity to activity with goodie bags in hand, were very excited and pleased with the fair.

“This club is really fun, and this day has been awesome,” says Annisha Kopec, 12, Meigs Middle School.  “We have the opportunity to see so many careers in the health and science fields. I would rather spend time here on the weekends than sitting at home watching television or playing video games. This fair also helps you prepare for college.”

“Yes,” says Ashley Mayes, 12, also from Meigs Middle School, “I decided to join this program because it sounded really fun. It was important to me to join an organization that would help me reach my goals. My brother has a disability, and I thought I could learn things that might help him,” she adds.

“This program is important,” says Hamel-Lambert, “because it allows underprivileged students the opportunity to really explore health and science career fields in a very hands-on way.”

“I feel very happy and proud to be able to participate in this wonderful event.”

Also sponsoring the fair was the College of Health and Human Services, School of Recreation and Sports Sciences, Department of Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology, Appalachian Rural Health Institute, Upward Bound Program, O’Bleness Memorial Hospital, Center for International Studies, Area Health Education Center, Pediatrics Club, Geriatrics Club, Student Osteopathic Medical Association and Community Service Programs.

OU-COM’s HCOP and Center of Excellence programs support disadvantaged and underrepresented minority students with career goals in the health–care fields by providing academic year and summer programs designed to improve student access and success. HCOP also sponsors a variety of programs including Summer Institute, Dayton Consortium, Summer Enrichment, Program ExCEL and Summer Scholars.