Local students show interest in medical field
Courtesy photo Representatives from Shoshone Medical Center give their presentations at Wallace Jr/Sr High School as part of SMC’s medical career day.
Students at Kellogg and Wallace high schools were treated to the annual health career fair put on by Shoshone Medical Center (SMC) prior to their spring break.
Local doctors, dentists, optometrists, nurses, physical therapists and other behind the scenes medical professionals each had a chance to address the student body before the students were able to walk through a row of stations to talk to the professionals who piqued their interest.
Tobey Hojem with SMC was pleased with how the events were received by the students, who can be a tough audience to connect with these days, they also found a formula that helps hold their attention.
“The students were engaged,” Hojem said. “We limit each presenter to two minutes or less so that helps move it along.” Following the career fair, students who are interested in joining the medical field get invited to the hospital to get further demonstration in the various career fields. “We have roughly 20 students from Kellogg and Wallace that will be coming to the hospital to speak to our professionals one-on-one regarding the particular job they are interested,” Hojem said. “We do this each year to get the students interested in the healthcare field.”
With an ever-growing and aging population in the United States, health care professionals are increasingly in demand.
In 2008, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing issued a statement drawing attention to a nursing shortage that’s expected to become even more pronounced in coming years. Over the past decade, this shortage of nurses has remained in the forefront of public view, making nursing one of the fastest-growing occupations.
While nurses remain in high demand, nursing is not the only position in healthcare with an abundance of jobs that need to be filled.
According to a recent study by Independence University here are some other healthcare careers expected to experience a shortage of employees in coming years: Health techs Therapists Physicians Surgeons Pharmacists Nurse practitioners Dentists Physicians’ assistants These shortages range anywhere from a need for 50,000 to over 1,000,000 new professionals per career by 2024.