Program Gives Students Chance to Look into Health Care Careers

By Rebecca Vandermeulen, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jan. 21–Starting in the fall, qualified Berks County high school seniors will be able to check out careers in health care while earning college credits. Penn State Berks and the Berks Career and Technology Center are working with Reading Hospital on a program to introduce students to jobs in a hospital setting. Carolyn S. Konas of the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences said the program would help students interested in health care to decide what jobs suit them. "Students aren’t quite sure what to expect with a career in health care," she said. The program is modeled after one organized by Lehigh Valley Hospital and Penn State’s Lehigh Valley campus. About 15 students will be accepted into the program. They must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and fulfill other academic requirements. Applicants’ maturity and discipline also will be considered, said Walter F. Fullam, director of continuing education at Penn State Berks. Sessions will take place five days a week from 7 to 10 a.m. On Mondays and Wednesdays, students will go to Reading Hospital for classes taught by teachers from the career center. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they will take classes at Penn State Berks — chemistry in the fall and physiology in the spring. Students will be charged half the regular tuition. "They’ll actually be taking college credits," said Lisa A. Greenawalt, principal of the career center’s Oley campus. "It gives them a jump- start." Konas said that on Fridays, students will shadow hospital workers, including nurses, surgical technicians and occupational therapists. Some students, she said, might be able to start classes at the School of Health Sciences after they graduate. "We want them to graduate and then stay here and come to work at the Reading Hospital," Konas said.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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