By Nemari Morales

The average high school experience usually doesn’t consist of helping strangers shower or tending to the sick, but these McCaskey students take their contributions above and beyond. 

Health Careers is a two-year program offered to McCaskey students interested in pursuing a career in the healthcare field, from aspiring travel nurses to up-and-coming morticians, the goals of these students vary widely. Yet, the program offers students each the same opportunity to experience what working in the healthcare field entails firsthand. 

Of the students that are eligible to participate in this opportunity, they endure all the motions of beginning a career in the healthcare field. This includes extensive training within their first year on mannequins to prepare them for the worst, the anxiety-ridden process of interviewing for the allotted positions, and high expectations for service to our community members in their second year. 

As for the 2024-2025 school year, 26 students of the 50 contenders for the available positions were accepted and now work during their school day on different units of the hospital. They serve as PCA’s, or Patient Care Assistants. There are 15 total units, ranging from general medicine to specifics such as joint replacement, surgical trauma, etc. There are typically one to two students per unit, but only one student will serve on a unit at a time. 

Their daily tasks consist of performing basic tasks for patients such as preparing breakfast trays, observing vital signs, changing bed linens, stocking materials, and tidying up rooms. More often than not, students are assigned to patients who require more intense care than simple maintenance procedures. Bathing patients, feeding them, performing oral care, dressing, and toileting are common tasks these students must complete on a daily basis. Learning these procedures isn’t easy, but the program has adapted memorable, hands-on ways to instill such techniques into students. 

“In a lab, we were practicing how to take care of patients with different handicaps and conditions that limited their ability to do everyday things. One time, we put beans in our shoes and had to walk up and down to stimulate neuropathy in the feet. It was an eye-opening experience because you wouldn’t understand how it felt if you were just told about it.” Yisbel Morales, a PtCA intern on the Oncology unit says, though this event was just one of many. 

Worksheets and lessons may not ever fully capture the fast-paced nature of a hospital and the myriad of absurd experiences to be had, which is why interactive learning is so important for these students. Melianis Maldonado, a PtCA intern working in the Observation unit believes that “Practicing our clinical skills on mannequins and real people has guided us to get the experience needed to proceed in the real world. It allows us to simulate real-life medical scenarios in a controlled environment. This helped us develop and refine our techniques without the risk of harming actual patients. This hands-on experience is confidence and competence, ensuring that we’re better prepared for real clinical situations.”

Yet, these benefits aren’t limited to just hospital work. Brianna Tran, a 12th grade PtCA intern serving on the general surgery floor claims, “I think one of the big things I’ve learned from Health Careers is becoming CPR certified because I can help anywhere, any time. I could literally save someone’s life even if I don’t pursue a career in this field – I could just be walking down the street and save someone.” Brianna is correct. According to the National Institutes of Health, instances of cardiac arrest occurring out of the hospital claim nearly 350,000 lives yearly in the United States, only 10% of victims surviving.

Overall, these students display passion for their work and a love for the Lancaster community by serving citizens to the best of their ability. These students are valued highly by patients for their work and deserve recognition. Ryan Metzger, a PtCA intern working on the Med Surg unit told a small, yet heartwarming story of the impact they make on citizens in the community, sharing, “On my very first day, when I barely knew the name of the floor I was on, the daughter of one of my patients crocheted a small angel for me as a thank you for helping her mother. I initially was embarrassed and tried to refuse, considering I had hardly done anything for her or her mother, but she stopped me and said that just being there, even as a student, made me an angel.” 

That woman was right—regardless of what titles they’ve been given such as student, intern, PtCA—these workers are hometown heroes.