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Health Academy Gives Medical Careers a Head Start: Sac City Program Poised to Be a Model for Developing a More Diverse Health Care Work Force

Posted on: Thursday, 23 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Dorsey Griffith, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Mar. 23--Related Information Mason Bonner-Santos likes veterinary medicine, but he's leaning toward pediatrics because he's allergic to cats.

The high-octane environment of the operating room attracts Jasmine Wright, who wants to be a surgeon. And Vuna Ryan hopes to draw on her personal experience with emotional trauma to help others in crisis, as a psychiatrist.

Like many kids, Wright, Ryan and Bonner-Santos dream of becoming doctors. The difference is that these students, among the 150 freshmen enrolled at Sacramento City Unified School District's new Health Professions High School, may have a better chance of making that dream a reality. By 2009, when members of this first class graduate, they will have a solid head start in the health care fields of their choice. Many already will have enough college credits to earn an associate of arts degree. And each student will have completed two or more internships in medical settings, four years of math and the equivalent of eight years of science classes. "If they leave with a certificate as a radiology technician or a pharmacy technician or decide to go to nursing or medical school, there is a great labor market for these kids," said Matt Perry, the school's energetic principal. "If they decide they really want to sell real estate or become an actor, at least they know they are leaving the school with a good college preparatory education." Health Professions High, which opened last fall, also is poised to become a national model for developing a more diverse healthcare work force. Its students, 80 percent of whom come from within the Sacramento City Unified School District, are a reflection of the district's diversity. Some live in the low-income housing complexes adjacent to the campus on McClatchy Way, which is tucked behind an industrial warehouse district off Broadway near Interstate 5. More than a third are Latino, nearly 40 percent are African American, the rest are Caucasian or of Asian descent. Slightly more than 60 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. Local health care leaders say it's a recipe for success. "Our community is changing much faster than our providers can keep up with," said Anette Smith-Dohring, manager of work force development at Sutter Health in the Sacramento region. "We want to make sure we can provide culturally competent care for our patients. To foster it, you need to capture people early and get them engaged in the process." On the Health Professions High School campus, evidence of engagement is everywhere, from the biology classroom where students are extracting DNA from strawberries to a lunchtime discussion with a veterinarian about extraction of another kind. "What's the strangest thing you ever pulled out of an animal?" one student asks the doctor. Thirteen rocks from one dog's belly and bowel, and a pair of pantyhose from another, comes the answer. In a medical science lecture on insurance coverage, students debate whether a 28-year-old male methamphetamine addict would be cheaper to insure than a 75-year-old grandma with Alzheimer's disease or a 5-year-old boy with liver cancer. Another day they explore the role of antibiotic use in creating drug-resistant bugs. Or discuss the differences between painkiller addiction and dependence, between depression and bipolar disorder. "This is all stuff we're going to have to know," explained Bonner-Santos, the aspiring pediatrician. On a recent afternoon the bespectacled boy with braces pored over eight medical terms he missed on a 25-question quiz designed to prepare members of the Health Occupations Students of America club for an upcoming competition. He chuckled a little after realizing one of the terms he missed, "rrhea," means "discharge or flow." In addition to nailing down the medical terms, Bonner-Santos plans to don a navy blue blazer, dark pants, white dress shirt and tie at the competition in Los Angeles, and give a five-minute speech on why he favors therapeutic cloning. "It seems to me there are a lot of opportunities that could come with it for paralysis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease," he said of his topic. His mother, Jeannette Bonner, drives all the way from Natomas to bring her son to the school, a decision she made only after considering its mission - and its location. "I work for the Sacramento Police Department, and I had a major concern about that area," she said of the neighborhood at the west end of Broadway that has endured more than its share of crime over the years. "But I had to consider a lot of factors." After numerous meetings with school officials, she was satisfied that her son would be safe and even more sure that he would be motivated. "The curriculum is just kick-butt," she said. After dozens of community meetings, the school's relations with its neighbors are off to a strong start, as well. While some residents of Seavey Circle, a public housing complex, worried they would become a scapegoat for any trouble near the school or that the infusion of teenagers might make the community's problems worse, that hasn't happened, said Lea Floyd, a 21-year resident. "It's going to be good, as long as they maintain the working relationship with the community," said Floyd, who raised her three children in the neighborhood. "If the foundation is right, nothing is going to knock that down." Health Professions High is one of five new small schools developed with a $4 million research grant to the Sacramento City Unified School District from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Perry was hired two years before the school's opening, visiting other health-focused schools around the country and meeting with hundreds of healthcare professionals, educators and neighborhood activists to develop the model now in place. Unlike other health academies typically housed within larger schools, Health Professions High requires that every student be subject to the same rigorous science-laden curriculum. Even the physical education program is heavy with health and science themes, with its focus on disease prevention with alternative approaches such as yoga and pilates. Eventually, its instructor says, the students also will learn how to teach wellness skills to others. For some, the work can seem overwhelming. But the school's safety net is sturdy. When it looked as if 15-year-old Britney Tucker might not pass biology, "the teachers took a stand and encouraged her and gave her direction and now she's right on task," said her mother, Tasha Tucker. The high school also seems to be a haven for kids in transition. Nagah Morris, for example, had been held back in middle school because, as she explained, "I used to ditch all the time." These days, the North Highlands teen leaves her home each morning between 6:30 and 7, boards one bus, rides light rail and then another bus to arrive at school on time for the 9:30 bell. The eldest of four children and the daughter of a single mother said she's determined to stay her new course.

"I work hard for my grades," she said. "When I don't succeed, I get upset. This school is going to help me. It's worth the travel." Each year, the school will add 150 students and eventually house a total of about 500. The staff, now just nine teachers, also will grow with enrollment. Next fall, Health Professions High will move out of the 10 portable buildings it now occupies and into a $15 million facility under construction next door. The school already has received a full six-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has strong backing from area hospital systems, community colleges and universities. Beyond the infusion of about $300,000 and many hours of technical advice on curriculum, all of the entities have pledged to provide educational and career-building opportunities for the students year-round and possibly even after graduation. As he nimbly maneuvered around exposed air ducts and the special acid-washed piping snaking around the emerging new science lab, Perry couldn't help but crow: "It's really kind of the best kept secret in town." Graphic: Wanted: health professionals ------------ OPEN ENROLLMENT Health Professions High is still enrolling incoming ninth-graders for this fall. Call (916) 264-3262 to request an application or pick one up at 451 McClatchy Way or at any middle school in the Sacramento City Unified School District. PROBLEMS TO SOLVE Questions health academy students are likely to encounter: Which part of the brain is used for rational thinking, reason and future planning? It is not fully developed until the end of adolescence: A) Cerebellum B) Hypothalamus C) Prefrontal cortex D) Hippocampus Of the following mental health professionals, which one is a medical doctor who can prescribe medication? A) Psychiatrist B) Psychologist C) Social worker D) Family counselor -- Answers: c) Prefrontal cortex; a) Psychiatrist DISCUSSION STARTER Whom would you insure? Rank each individual (1 through 10) with No. 1 being your highest choice to insure and No. 10 being your lowest choice: -- Pregnant teen -- Grandmother, 75, with Alzheimer's disease -- 5-year-old boy with liver cancer -- 35-year-old business woman with recurring migraine headaches -- 19-year-old college student with history of three car accidents -- 22-year-old woman with HIV infection -- 50-year-old professional man with history of alcoholism -- 28-year-old man who has recovered from three years of methamphetamine addiction -- 45-year-old mother of three with high blood pressure -- 58-year-old Vietnam veteran with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder HEALTH CAREER HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS In addition to Health Professions High, the region's high schools offer these four-year health career programs: Placerville: El Dorado High School, Health Careers Academy; call Ruette Carstenson, (530) 622-5081, x222 Elk Grove: Valley High School, Health TECH (Tomorrow's Employees in Careers in Health; call John Buckmaster, (916) 689-6500 Roseville: Oakmont High School, Health Academy; call Wes Muller, (916) 782-3781 x2202 Sacramento: -- Encina High School, Doctor and Nurse Preparatory Program; call Don Brodnansky, (916) 971-7538 -- Hiram Johnson High School, Health and Medical Services Academy; call Nancy Reclusado, (916) 277-6300 -- Rosemont High School, Health and Science Small Learning Community; call Kathy Jorgensen, (916) 228-5844 -- Luther Burbank High School, Health and Fitness Small Learning Community; call Carey Farley, (916) 433-5100 -- McClatchy High School, Health and Human Services Small Learning Community; call Jim Geyer or Bob Sully, (916) 264-4400 -- Kennedy High School, MASH (Medically Associated Science and Health) Small Learning Community; call Mike Perez, (916) 433-5200

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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