Baltimore Schools Students Will Benefit From Local Alliance

Students at Baltimore schools get a taste of a health career

A new initiative at Baltimore schools provides yet another glimpse into the possibilities that a public school system can throw up for its students, if it only makes the effort. Baltimore schools have tied up with MedStar the Columbia based health care system, to offer students an opportunity to intern at health facilities. The exposure, it is believed will help students who have already considered a move into a health career as part of their future, to make a firm decision. Those who might have been curious about what a medical job involves will now have an opportunity to see first hand the joys and satisfaction of such a job, as well as its myriad challenges.

This new school to work program at Baltimore School is called Rx for Success, and it is already giving students a foretaste of what working in a medical job could be like. The program offers students at Baltimore schools a chance to have summer internships at one of its seven hospitals. Students can also opt for internships at other health care centers operated by MedStar including home nursing services and surgical centers.

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For MedStar, the program’s main benefit is that it gives them an opportunity to offer Baltimore schools students, especially the lower income ones, a chance to get a foothold in satisfying health careers. The other incentive for MedStar is the potential new stream of employees that the program will open up. It’s no secret that MedStar is facing a worrying shortage of skilled manpower. Doctors and nurses as well as those who don’t require much more than a high school education are in demand, and for MedStar this program allows Baltimore schools students to test the waters, before plunging into a health career, preferably at MedStar’s own facilities.

There is every indication that MedStar is looking at the Rx for Success program as a long term one. Under the memorandum, the program will be funded for years, but the success of the program will probably lead to its permanency. The program offer students reading materials and learning facilities besides helping Baltimore schools participating in the program to create large make shift “hospitals” in the basement complete with a version of a pediatric care room and an intensive care unit for students to practice in.

From all feedback to date, the program has been a grand success. Baltimore schools students are enthused about what they are learning, and the value it can bring to others. The on site training offered to the students plus the rich experience of working closely with physicians and other heath professionals, who they otherwise wouldn’t have got the chance to know on a personal level has helped many students at Baltimore schools make up their minds about a medical career.