The North Central Texas Area Health Education Center, Midwestern State University, and Vernon College were happy to host more than 200 high school students on March 21 with the Health Care High School Tour. Twelve high schools participated from across rural areas in North Texas. They rotated through Gunn College of Health Sciences & Human Services at MSU Texas and Vernon College’s health science program. 

“Our mission is to introduce students to the many different disciplines that make up and support the health care team,” North Central Texas AHEC director Sarah Long said. “Rural Texas is facing a shortage of health care workers, and we hope to train these students and send them back into their communities to work.” 

Department set up interactive stations for students. Respiratory Therapy had two sets of pig lungs on display, both healthy and exposed to smoke, that students were able to observe ‘breathe’ and touch; baby and toddler simulators that they were able to pass around and feel the weight and body definition of a patient that size; and a station for students to provide CPR. Dental Hygiene had ‘typodonts’ set up for students to practice cleaning teeth, and students also toured their sterilization, dental lab, and dental radiology wing at Centennial Hall at MSU Texas. 

The Radiology Department gave the students an in-depth view of their top-of-the-line equipment and even had a station where volunteers could get on the table, which allowed students to practice positioning. The Department of Nursing had a great game set up where students could “Guess which instrument” should be used and educated students more on each instrument. They even allowed students to inject an orange peel! 

“All of the different areas really did an amazing job making this tour interactive for the students so that they could not only see the departments and technologies they’d get to work in but also start getting that hands-on experience that makes learning so fun!” said Paige Rask, an AHEC Community Based Educator at Gunn College of Health Sciences & Human Services.