Bartlett Regional | House Calls | Spring 2020

By Katie Bausler, Community Relations Director “I really want to go into medicine and I want to pursue a career as a doctor later in life,” declares Juneau-Douglas High School senior Portia Carney. So she jumped at the chance to enroll in the Introduction to Health Sciences class, in which high school students job-shadow community health care professionals at facilities including Wild Flower Court, Rainforest Pediatrics and Bartlett Regional Hospital. The course description says, “Students explore a variety of health-related careers, including roles and responsibilities of health care workers, medical terminology, legal and ethical issues, personal safety, infection control, and problem solving.” On the job For her last day of shadowing, Portia shows up at the Human Resources desk at 1 p.m. sharp. “If they’re late they’re out of luck,” says HR technician Michelle Darrah. “We want them to have a real-world experience.” After arriving, students dress in hospital-assigned scrubs and report to the department they are job-shadowing that day. We catch up with Portia at the nurses’ station at Bartlett Beginnings, waiting for admission to a birthing room where a family has just met their new child. “I just want to see a little baby, seeing the new life that’s been brought into the world,” says Portia. Heidi Denton, RN, emerges from the room. “We’re ready for you now,” she tells Portia. Minutes before, Juneau family Christal and Ben Higdon welcomed their second daughter, Ophelia. In a plastic bag on a rolling cart is the placenta and umbilical cord. Heidi, and fellow long- time Bartlett Beginnings nurse Kasia Spengler, RN, ask Portia if she’d like to see it. Of course she does. The trio don gloves and dump the mass into a plastic container. “I got to feel it. One layer is like spongy, and another layer is like this thin membrane,” says Portia. “And then they showed me the umbilical cord and it was just a lot different from what I’d ever imagined.” Next, it was time to measure and weigh Ophelia. “She was a big healthy baby,” Portia says. “It was just a really cool experience to see how the whole afterwards process works.” Nurturing health care careers As it turns out, Heidi’s health care career began right here at Bartlett Beginnings. Nineteen years ago she was a junior in high school considering a career as a nurse. “I loved it,” she states. “I job-shadowed with all these people, some of whom I now work with.” The experience solidified Heidi’s decision to study nursing in college and become a registered nurse. Heidi is not alone. “This is how Pathway to the future High school job-shadow class prepares students for future health care careers CAREERS “We are aware of many students who value these courses and experiences and return to our community as postsecondary graduates employed by local health care organizations like Bartlett,” says Carin Smolin. 6 House Calls Spring 2020