Cedar Falls High School students were out in force last week as part of an effort to give them real-life medical career experiences.
This is the seventh year the Center for Advanced Professional Studies – or CAPS – has taken students at the school outside of the traditional classroom to explore careers in medicine, education, business, construction and trades, and more.
About 45 students participated this year compared to 15 last year.
“Our CAPS MED program tripled in size over the past year, leaving us with a huge undertaking of providing immersion experiences for everyone,” said Cedar Falls CAPS Program Director Ethan Wiechmann. “Our heath community really stepped up to make this possible.”
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Cedar Falls High School and Center for Professional Studies program student Jada Strohman observes as Dr. Lauren Block performs an adjustment on chiropractic assistant Lindsay Wiechmann on Friday at Schofield Spine and Motion in Cedar Falls.
Student Jada Strohman is interested in becoming a chiropractor. The CAPS program partnered her with Schofield Spine + Motion in Cedar Falls. Friday was her last day at the office. Strohman has done other career research, including job shadowing.
“CAPS takes you full circle,” she said.
Strohman has explored everything from front desk and insurance to procedures and dealing with patients.
“It’s more than cracks and pops,” she said.
Dr. John Schofield said the practice has been involved with CAPS for the last few years.
“It’s important for us to give those kids a perspective, to help them find a passion,” he said. “I think we have a responsibility to guide and direct them in life.”
Schofield has enjoyed participating.
“The students are great,” he said. “They are engaged, responsible and ask great questions. As an employer, those are the traits we’re looking for.”
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Cedar Falls High School and Center for Professional Studies program students Annalise Gilbert, right, and Rylee Hansen, center, observe as veterinarian Colleen Nemmers examines a Cavachon dog named Cooper DeJean on Friday at Companion Animal Clinic and Pet Resort in Cedar Falls on Friday.
Elsewhere two students were dealing with another type of patient.
Cedar Falls seniors Annalise Gilbert and Rylee Hansen spent their immersion week at Companion Animal Clinic & Pet Resort.
On Friday, they were under the tutelage of veterinarian Dr. Colleen Nemmers. As part of their responsibilities, they had to supply a steady stream of treats to 14-week-old Cooper DeJean, a black and white Cavachon, while he got his shots.
“My son Michael named him,” said owner Elana Aldrich, as she looked on.
“It’s good for them to be here,” Nemmers said of Gilbert and Hansen. “It’s good for them to see the good, the bad and the dirty. It’s also good for them to get experience with our clients, the owners. The animals can’t speak for themselves.”
Nemmers said she loves working with the students.
“I like teaching,” she said. “And I’m a talker.”
Gilbert said she thought she wanted to be a vet, but she wasn’t sure.
“The first day, I was in on a surgery,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how I’d do with that or with euthanizing. But I know it has to be done.”
Hansen has explored other career options, including pharmacy, and appreciates the CAPS program.
“It helps us facilitate career exploration,” she said.
Nemmers said the girls are lucky to have the help of the program. Pursuing her career interests was very different when she was young.
“I had to look through the phonebook and cold call vets’ offices and ask for a job,” she said. “It was really hard.
“I’m glad this can pave the road to get you into those spots.”
On her last immersion day, senior Mattie Dieken was under the supervision of Jean Firman, interim director of the ambulatory surgery center at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital.
“Students learned the flow of the patient – from pre-op, to the surgery suite, to the recovery room process,” she said. “They are introduced to the equipment, we show them the instrument process, how to sterilize. They mirror what the patient experiences.”
Dieken knows she wants to work in the medical field but isn’t sure which area she will pursue. Immersion Week is helping her move toward a decision.
“This has opened my eyes to so many things I’ve never seen,” she said. “It’s important to know what’s out there.”
Dieken said she enjoyed her physical therapy rotation.
“I like the personal relationship you can build with (patients),” she said.
Students rotated through different departments, including surgery, pharmacy, physical therapy and radiology.
Jessie Ott is the hospital’s inpatient therapy manager. She feels CAPS is an important tool for students.
“In the classroom, they’re not experiencing things,” she said. “CAPS puts you in a position that might determine your future.
“They learn so much, including the (work) culture. It is important the youth in our community has this opportunity.”
Seniors Emily Meyer and Ella Malaise also spent much of last week at Allen.
Meyer said she has always known she wanted to pursue the sciences, and Malaise said she likes to be defiant and no one in her family works in a medical field. Malaise said the CAPS program and the instructors have given her a safe place to grow.
“They have given us guidance and shown us teamwork,” she said.
Meyer said the program has been a great experience.
“It has been great talking with the patients and think about their physical and mental health,” she said. “It is important to have that bond.”
“I can see myself working here,” Malaise said. “You can’t do that in a classroom.”
More than 1,000 students are served by Cedar Falls CAPS; Cedar Valley CAPS serves rural areas.
Medical Services Instructor Loren Brimeyer has seen the program’s effect on the students.
“(I am impressed) with our student associates and the amount of growth I have witnessed from them this semester,” she said. “They are truly remarkable young people, and watching them go through this program gives me a lot of faith in our next generation of young leaders.”
The article from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier can be accessed at this link.
