Allied health careers are not for everyone, Pearl River Community College instructors and students told some 300 area high school students Sept. 30.
Schooling is intense, competitive and occasionally messy. But the rewards are financial - with annual salaries between $40,000 and $60,000 - as well as emotional, they said.
Students from 12 area high schools made the field trip to PRCC's Forrest County Center to tour its 10 allied health programs, which range from respiratory care to occupational therapy to dental hygiene.
Most programs are two years and have a clinical component, with students taking their knowledge into area medical facilities such as Hattiesburg Clinic and Forrest General Hospital.
"You go into an emergency room, and you see nasty stuff, but you're not thinking about that," said second-year respiratory care student Rachel Allen, 31. "You're thinking about saving somebody's life."
Allen and several peers displayed respiratory care techniques to participating high school students.
Volunteer Haley Camp, 16, inserted a laryngoscope into the mouth of a lab mannequin to enable mechanical ventilation.
"It was fun. It was different," said Camp, who wants to become an anesthesiologist, surgeon or emergency room doctor. She was one of about 60 Petal High students participating.
Forrest County Center Dean Cecil Burt said the field trip - a yearly staple for at least 15 years - is intended for students already taking allied health courses at their schools.
"Those people in those allied health programs aspire to go on to careers in various health professions, and we show them the training opportunities that are available in these fields," he said.
Though the college has an open admissions policy, allied health students must apply to programs. They are judged in most cases based on personal interviews, ACT scores and grade point averages. In the case of certain programs, they must take prerequisite courses at PRCC before applying.
About 300 students are enrolled in the school's allied health programs. Because of caps set by accrediting bodies, Burt said that about two-thirds of applying students are turned away, many of them fully qualified to be admitted.
Once in, they are on a promising career path, said Patti Crowson, chair of the physical therapy department. Jobs in the medical profession are plentiful and increasing as baby boomers age, she said.
"Don't just get a degree; get a career," she urged students.
It's a challenge that some students said they are embracing.
Senior Kolyn Dossett, 17, of Poplarville High School said she is considering PRCC in order to become a pediatric dental hygiene..
"Two years to make good money to do something you love, it's definitely worth it," she said.(source) |
