Youth-skewing co-op programs aim to spark teens’ interest in health care

As the layers of a digitally scanned cadaver unfold before their eyes, the laughter and surprise of nervous teenagers turns to curiosity and fascination – as nearly two dozen high school students lean into hands-on laboratory activities while visiting Toronto Metropolitan University’s new School of Medicine in nearby Brampton, Ontario.

In a matter of minutes, Peel District School Board (PDSB) co-op students are skillfully swiping the screens of multiple virtual dissection tables — imagine long, table-sized computers — to rearrange 3D models, zooming in on bones and muscles.

“You can find out where the fibula is and you can look around. You can turn the bodies,” enthused Yashita Singh, 16.

“You might like to go through the skin , Layer by layer and you can dissect them, which is really cool.”

Co-op programs at health-care sites routinely include post-secondary students, but some are turning to youth to target high school students instead. The hope is to spark interest among a broader group of teens, especially from underrepresented groups, and get more of them thinking about Canada’s health care system.

The senior years of high school are a critical moment when students are inspired to pursue different paths, says Gurmeet Lal, the school’s director of clinical anatomy and simulation. So, when preparing for the PDSB tour, he chose interactive activities to engage them, make things relatable, and hopefully one day help them imagine themselves back in their labs.

“I really wanted students to come and interact with the technology,” she said.

“The goal here was to connect what they learn in the classroom – and see how we are teaching the same concepts to our medical students and what technologies we use to do that.”

This week’s trip was part of a new PDSB-TMU co-op course called Equity in the Future of Healthcare, in which 25 seniors from five schools meet weekly to learn about the health care system.

They get a glimpse of a variety of fields from medicine and midwifery to public health and social work through lectures, visits to laboratories and classrooms, and meetings with TMU students. It counts towards both their high school diploma and TMU if they choose to study there.

While student Singh already had an interest in health care, this course is expanding her horizons.

“I can talk to med school students and understand their experiences,” she said. “This can help me figure out whether or not I should go to med school – and honestly, I’m considering med school a lot.”

Haris Ahmed, who is of South Asian descent, was one of the first-year TMU medicine students Singh met.

“It can be really inspiring to see that someone who looks like you, someone who grew up just like you – from the same culture or a similar culture, is able to enter medicine,” he said.

Ahmed’s older sister, who is completing her studies in medicine, helped him navigate the “hidden curriculum” of medicine.

It’s what makes you want to get into medicine, where you can volunteer. , Or even how to apply or how to write the MCAT or what resources are available to you,” he said.

“The most powerful thing you can do is believe in someone that they are capable.”

bridging the gap

In Winnipeg, an Indigenous student placement program, including high school students, has matched participants with health care hosts each summer for nearly 15 years, showcasing a variety of careers ranging from physicians to facility management, finance and administration roles.

Apart from exposing students to these possibilities, it also aims to increase the indigenous workforce and build a more reflective system.

Jeremy Morin, interim chief operating officer of Indigenous health at the Red River Metis and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said Indigenous people are “over-represented” in the health-care system, but are under-represented in its workforce.

“So we’re trying to bridge that gap.”

Previous successes range from a student sitting on brain surgery to another student involved in an academic paper (which inspired his own research after entering university, Morin says).

“If I had unlimited money in an ideal world, I could probably get 30 to 50 students every year, because there’s no shortage of work,” he said.

In Ottawa, the Equity in Health Systems co-op program aims to create new pathways into health care for underrepresented high school students in response to a “huge shortage of people.” , is missing from the health system,” said Dr. Jerry Maniet, who founded the program at a high school in 2022.

He wants more students to look beyond just hospital visits, giving them valuable experience in laboratories and research spaces, and providing “role models”. , To hear their stories, struggles and successes because they had to go through those systems.”

Representation goes a long way, agrees program co-founder First Group student Morolayo Atty. Because of his interest in a particular field – biomedical engineering – finding mentors and opportunities for relevant experiences seemed even more difficult.

Attie says her Grade 11 placement with Equity in Health Systems taught her to compile research and network with professionals. Although she ultimately switched from biomedical to studying civil engineering, those skills helped her in later placements, she said — a reason she gives back as an advisor to recent co-op students.

better understanding

While not everyone in health care co-ops continues on in this field, PDSB resource teacher Mirjan Krstovic says that initial exposure is valuable.

“We are already making an impact on our communities through better understanding of our health care system and the needs in Canada,” he said.

Rather than an interest in health care, Peel student Aisha Adebisi admits she initially signed up for the PDSB-TMU course to learn about equality, oppression and privilege. However, the class has since helped convince the 17-year-old to pursue nursing.

At first, she imagined that the course would affect her daily interactions in general.

However, she now envisions the lessons as “what it will be like for me when I become a nurse” and treating patients “with the care they deserve, not the care you think they deserve.”