ARH Hospital, in conjunction with Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College and the James A. Cawood Elementary School Family Resource and Youth Service Center, are piloting a medical explorers club at JACES this school year. Twelve students were selected through the middle school science program.

FRYSC Director Betsy Colinger said, “The career exploration opportunity is fabulous for our students. We are blessed to have been selected for this tremendous opportunity. We are very excited about the impact this has on our students.”

Principal John Carter added, “These students are getting a hands-on look at different avenues of the medical field. Our school needed ARH as much as ARH needed a school to be the pilot program. It has taken morale amongst the students to a whole new high.”

ARH’s Community and Patient Advocate Mark Bell said “We have been working together since the fall of 2017 to develop this project in a way that helps to spark interest and enthusiasm among middle school students for STEM education. That is something local students can now pursue when they get to high school.”

Bell said “the medical sciences provide specific, real-life and local examples so our community’s children can understand how this wide body of knowledge might provide for their professional future. In fact, that is the ultimate goal for this program. Both the college and hospital have a vested interest in expanding opportunities for students to learn the types of skills that will allow them to seek local career opportunities.”

There is a session each month. The sessions have included laboratory science, nursing and paramedics. The most recent session was on surgical technology. Students were were taught how to create a sterile environment and how to suit up for surgery. They were also shown tools used during surgery and allowed to practice stapling on a simulated trainer.