The future of healthcare staffing looks bright
Recently, the Kansas City Metropolitan Healthcare Council (KCMHC), a partnership of the Kansas Hospital Association and the Missouri Hospital Association, and the Real World Learning initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation hosted an Explore Your Future in Healthcare Event for middle and high school students.
Over 500 students came through the experience to define their dreams in healthcare, take part in at least 5 hands-on experiences (with over 50 to choose from), and set their next steps to achieve their dreams by meeting with funders, education partners, and employers ready to put them to work.
The early feedback from students is amazing, earning an overall 4.8 rating from the students with 93% saying they have more interest in a healthcare carer after attending the event.
Here are just a few examples of comments from students:
"One of my favorite hands-on activities was when I made lotion with a UMKC person through the experiment of compounding. I liked this because the chemistry behind the experiment was quite interesting. How the chemicals react to each other is quite a sight to see for me."
"The KU Med anesthesia was my favorite hands-on activity because the doctor leading the activity was very informative and helpful when learning about our activity."
"VR gave me good insight on surgery."
"The self-defense class because I learned a lot about the security in hospitals and also learned my own ways to protect myself."
"The cybersecurity, because I found it interesting."
Students had a goal to complete five activities, but teachers actually had a hard time pulling their students out of the session! (Check out the crowded badges for completed activities!)
The future of healthcare staffing will be great with these students leading the way! Thank you to all those who helped plan and support this event. Anna Hennes, MBA, Jill Williams, MEd, SHRM-SCP, Jaron Caffrey, Hannah Morales, Steve Stiglic, Morgan Greenstreet Angie Richardson, SHRM-CP, Traci Manis, Jamie Young , M.A., and many others who made this event come to life.