BCBS Scholars Learn About Careers in Health Care
Jeopardy!, a tour of an operating room and watching a gastric endoscopy procedure
Date: 6/11/2009
BIDMC Contact: Jerry Berger
Phone: 617-667-7308
Email: jberger@bidmc.harvard.edu
BOSTON -- It was not a typical Thursday afternoon for sophomores from Madison Park Vocational Technical High School in Boston. They played Jeopardy!, took a tour of an operating room and watched a gastric endoscopy procedure.
These eight students were members of the Blue Scholars Program, a partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the high school. The Blue Scholars Program targets high potential ninth grade students and provides academic as well as enrichment experiences to help them maintain a B-grade point average or higher, according to Jackie Haley, a community relations specialist for BCBSMA. This unique partnership affords the students opportunities to explore their interests and broaden their access to information and resources so that they may realize their life goals.
Since several of the students were interested in medicine, Haley reached out to Jacques Carter, MD, about arranging a tour of BIDMC. This was the first time since the program’s inception in 2001, that scholars had visited the medical center. Carter coordinated the activities for the afternoon including a meeting with physicians and a nurse as well as a trip to the Carl J. Shapiro Simulation and Skills Center.
Janet Greene, RN, encouraged the students to consider a career in nursing. She said the flexibility to work full time while also taking classes makes training to become a nurse affordable.
“Today, it is scary to wonder how you are going to support yourself,” Greene said. “If you want to do a step-by-step approach that allows you to work and go to school, then I would recommend nursing.”
Daniel Jones, MD, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery, spoke about the schooling needed to become a surgeon. Then Alex Derevianko, MD, showed the scholars how medical students and residents practice for surgery using equipment and the mock operating room in the Skills Lab.
“Without technology, medicine as it is today would not be possible,” Derevianko said as he showed the students a laparoscope. He explained how this instrument, which features a tiny camera, is inserted into the abdomen, enabling surgeons to operate on a patient without creating a large incision and reducing the risk of infection.
Derevianko then explained how an entire surgical team including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and scrub technicians practice by operating on a robotic mannequin. “You become good only when you repeat the procedure,” he said.
The Scholars apply for the program as ninth graders and if accepted, remain in the program through graduation. They meet weekly with their mentors, BCBSMA staff, to work on conflict resolution, goal setting, career planning and leadership development. Haley said 90 percent of students in the Blue Scholars Program go on to attend two or four year colleges.
