Hospital Partnership- New Class Opportunity

Rebel Roundup- Hospital Partnership

I wanted to share about a new opportunity we are working on for our students.  Murray County Central (MCC), Fulda Public Schools (FPS), and Murray County Medical Center (MCMC) have been undergoing talks to partner together in order to offer an Introduction to Medical Careers course for the 2019 fall semester.  According to a recent survey, 45% of MCC students indicated they would be interested in taking a Medical Careers Course to learn more about job opportunities in the medical field.  This course would provide students the opportunity to explore a wide variety of careers in an assortment of medical/healthcare settings.  Students would have the chance to see if a career in medical/health science is right for them; and if they determine they have an interest, it could help them narrow down the possible careers they might consider.  Students would participate in an in-depth study of and be exposed to medical/health science careers, universal medical skills, career planning, employability skills, basic terminology, ethics, wellness, and disease and safety.

Job prospects for students entering the health care profession are promising.  According to the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development for Region 8 of southwest MN, there were 235 documented job vacancies in “Healthcare Practitioners and Technical” and 172 documented vacancies in “Healthcare Support” during the 4th quarter of 2017.  It is important for students to know about the different options that are out there so they can make an informed decision. 

The model for this partnership is unique in that it will offer a collaboration between two school districts (MCC and FPS) and a business partner (MCMC).  The course will be a 1 credit class that, in addition to high school credit, can be articulated for college credit.  The teacher will  travel to each community for this course.  Students will have class at MCMC in Slayton or at the MCMC clinic in Fulda.  We have found that student interest is generally higher when they do not have to travel.  Students will have class with the instructor 2 days a week and then have 3 days of online learning in each location. 

At this time, we are in the process of writing a Launch Your Future Today (LYFT) grant to fund this class, and offering this class is dependent upon grant approval.  The Minnesota legislature allocated 3 million dollars in grant money that is available to schools for the expansion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses.  Launch Your Future Today is a rural CTE pathway initiative with the purpose of rebuilding CTE in the 18 county service region of southwest and west central Minnesota. The goal of LYFT Pathways is for every secondary student in the region to gain marketable skills through meaningful CTE opportunities that lead to further education and careers that match our region’s labor market needs.

We are very excited to continue providing cutting edge programming for the students of Murray County.  This is a unique and relevant opportunity available to next year’s Juniors and Seniors of Murray County Central and Fulda Public Schools.  Thank you to Murray County Medical Center for being willing to partner with us to provide this great opportunity for our students.

Jake Scandrett- MCC HS Principal