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By Tyler Ellison
UNK Communication
KEARNEY – More than 300 students from 54 different high schools gathered at the University of Nebraska at Kearney on Wednesday, and they all had one thing in common.
They are interested in health care professions.
Joined by an additional 150 UNK students, these future doctors, dentists, nurses, physical therapists and pharmacists gathered on campus for the annual Health Careers Fair.
Organized by UNK Health SciencesThe event provides an opportunity to meet with employers and representatives from various career schools while learning about UNK and its academic programs. It is part of the Health Science Explorers Program, a UNK initiative that addresses the need for healthcare workers by introducing more middle and high school students to these careers and educational pathways.
“There’s such a shortage of health care professionals right now, and it’s time for high school students to really decide where they want to go to school and what their major will be. “We want to show them all the different opportunities and direct more people into those health care careers,” he said. Hosted by Sarah Bruner Health Science Explorers Program.
Representatives from UNK and other high schools in the state and region were on hand to share information about training programs and several local health care providers were on hand to answer questions and discuss career opportunities. Students participated in specialty sessions focusing on job shadowing, nursing, medical laboratory science, and radiography.
Allison Jelink, a senior at Aquinas Catholic High School in David City, already plans to pursue a career in pharmacy, so she’s focused on learning more about the next step in her education.
Jelink wants to attend UNK, following in the footsteps of her mother, Amy, who works as a pharmacist at the Butler County Health Care Center. Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP). A partnership between UNK and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, KHOP is available to rural Nebraska students who are committed to practicing as medical professionals in these areas. If all requirements are met, participants will receive a guaranteed scholarship to attend UNK and attend UNMC. The KHOP learning community provides UNK first-year students with additional support, mentoring and professional development opportunities along with a $2,000 class waiver.
Back in David City, Jelink is preparing for her career by job shadowing at a local pharmacy.
“That experience is very important because it reinforces whether you want to go to a certain area,” she said.
At Gothenburg High School, guidance counselor Jerry Wiggins says more and more students are seeing an interest in health care.
“And there’s a huge demand across the country,” he said.
Wiggins brought eight seniors to the UNK Health Careers Fair, which he has been participating in since its inception. He wants to expose students to a wide range of options for higher education and get them thinking about college.
“For some of our students, it’s their first time on a college campus,” Wiggins said. “That opportunity serves a purpose just to walk around a college campus.”
For employers like CHI Health, the career fair is the perfect place to meet their future talent pool and promote their position.
“This event allows us to make those connections and show students that there are many different career opportunities in health care,” said Jill England, who works for CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearny and CHI Health St. Francis in Grand Island.
In addition to high wages and job stability, the healthcare industry offers other benefits that many careers cannot. It empowers employees to make an impact on others and improve their lives.
“If it’s something that really drives you, health care is definitely the place for you,” England said.
Photos by Erika Pritchard, UNK Communications
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