NEW GLASGOW – When Spencer MacDonald began a summer co-op at the Aberdeen Regional Hospital, he had the goal of one day becoming a doctor. After going through the paces, it’s still his dream.
“If anything, this program has inched me closer to that goal by showing me what being a good doctor consists of and just what I’ll be getting myself into by pursuing a career in medicine,” he said.
MacDonald, a Grade 11 student at NNEC, Juliana Ali of NRHS and Cassidy O’Hearn of PA were the latest participants in a co-op that sees students interested in a career in medicine work with health care professionals in Pictou County.
The program, which owes its creation to Nancy MacConnell-Maxner, manager of interprofessional practice and education services, has been offering hands-on work for students for the past four years.
“For many students contemplating a career in medicine, they know about nurses and doctors and that’s it,” she said. “There are many more positions in the field of health care and this gives them exposure to them.”
This is a year of firsts for the co-op program, including the first time three students were chosen rather than two and the first time a male participated.
From July 2 to Aug. 15, the trio spent up to three days with the hospital’s departments, including pharmacy, maternity, nutrition, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, diagnostic imaging, family medicine, radiology and others.
Students for the co-op are chosen from the three area high schools through an interview process. They gain valuable knowledge about the health care system and after 200 hours of work earn two academic credits.
“Unlike most co-op placements, the students were able to shadow over a dozen different professions as opposed to the usual one,” said Don Hill, community-based learning consultant with Chignecto-Central Regional School Board. “We hope that if they decide to get a job in medicine, they’ll stay in Pictou County or in Nova Scotia.”
For Ali, this summer’s routine was different from previous years of relaxation and fun in the sun.
“If someone had told me a few months ago that I would be weighting placentas, I would have not believed it,” she said. “But that is exactly what I did while I was in histology.”
While in maternity, O’Hearn performed a number of ultrasounds that allowed her to monitor unborn babies’ heart rates.
“My time nursing on the maternity floor was an unforgettable experience,” she said. “With all of the excited expecting mothers or the ones who just gave birth it was without a doubt the happiest place throughout the entire hospital.”
MacDonald spent a shift with an emergency room doctor and sat in on a triage assessment while seeing everything from seizures, to appendicitis, to the realignment of bones and spinal taps performed.
“Emergency medicine may have been the most exciting time I spent in the hospital,” he said. “The nurses there said it was slow but I couldn’t imagine it being much busier than it was. It was exciting but by far the most stressful time I spent in the hospital this summer.”
According to MacConnell-Maxner, the success of the program depends on the hard work, dedication and co-operation of hospital and medical staff.
“Thank you so much, to all the people who made this possible,” she said. “The staff gives so much of their time to make sure the students learn and have fun.”
On Twitter: @NGNewsJohn
