Dr. Amy Elliott shows students how to give an injection during a visit to the Faribault Youth Center earlier this week. High school and college students can join Allina Health’s new Scrub Club for more hands-on opportunities to try medical careers. (Photo courtesy of Faribault Public Schools)
A participant in the Faribault Youth Center after-school program tries giving an injection using a clementine as a stand-in for a patient. (Photo courtesy of Faribault Public Schools)
Youths and young adults will put casts on each other’s limbs Monday at the Allina Health Faribault Medical Center.
Allina Health staff is renewing efforts to attract young people to medical careers with a new monthly program called Scrub Club.
Dr. Amy Elliott shows students how to give an injection during a visit to the Faribault Youth Center earlier this week. High school and college students can join Allina Health’s new Scrub Club for more hands-on opportunities to try medical careers. (Photo courtesy of Faribault Public Schools)
And this time, they’re going more experiential.
“We’re really trying to take a more hands-on approach,” said Dr. Amy Elliott, a family medicine physician.
Area high school and college students are invited to join the free club that will meet three times this spring. If it is well received, Elliott said the club will then resume in the fall.
Before the pandemic forced a pause, Elliott said Allina had youth outreach programs giving them a taste of the many medical-related career opportunities that are available to them.
A participant in the Faribault Youth Center after-school program tries giving an injection using a clementine as a stand-in for a patient. (Photo courtesy of Faribault Public Schools)
Those efforts resumed in January when the health care provider participated in a new interactive career fair for Faribault High School students. Allina staff visited the Faribault Youth Center earlier this week.
Scrub Club — the name is inspired by the scrubs worn by many medical professionals — is the latest outreach.
“Scrub Club is an opportunity for us to connect with students, so they can learn more about the options and how to achieve their goals from people who work in the field,” Elliott said.
Physicians and other staff from different specialties will take turns leading club activities.
First up is the orthopedics department. A physician, physician’s assistant and physical therapist will share about their jobs. Attendees will then get to try to make a cast and use crutches and other mobility assistive devices.
Staff from the hospital’s laboratory are on deck for April 24, and youths will get to practice taking a blood draw. Anesthesiology staff are coming on May 22 and participants will be invited to intubate a mannequin.
Youths can choose to attend only the sessions for the specialties that most interest them. But Elliott suggests they come every month and they may just find a new prospective career they might not have previously considered.
“If you think health care might be for you, it’s really useful to try a few different things on,” she said.
