Applications being accepted for high school alliance

Applications are now being accepted for the 2011-12 UNMC High School Alliance. Interested students from any of the nine metro-area participating school districts and Educational Service Unit 3 are eligible to apply.

Application forms can be found online at www.unmc.edu/alliance and must be received by 4 p.m., Feb. 28.

District involvement Participating school districts include: Bellevue Public Schools; Bennington Public Schools; Council Bluffs Community Schools; Douglas County West Community Schools; ESU-3; Gretna Public Schools; Millard Public Schools; Omaha Public Schools; Papillion-LaVista School District; and Westside Community Schools.

Only 50 students will be accepted into the alliance, which is a partnership between UNMC, the school districts and ESU-3.

“Last year we received three applications for each available slot and we are expecting an even greater number of applicants for the 2011-12 academic year,” said Sara Cizek Going, J.D., program coordinator, UNMC High School Alliance.

Students must:

• Be at least 16;
  
• Entering their junior or senior years of high school at the start of the 2011-12 academic year; and
  
• Have completed algebra and biology.

Alliance courses cover a range of health care topics, such as:

• Human anatomy;
  
• Career exploration; and
  
• Medical decision-making.

The program lets high school students take college-level courses in preparation for health care careers.

The courses — specifically designed for high school students — are taught by UNMC faculty on the medical center campus. The program provides a hands-on learning experience that is different from what students would have access to at their high school. Most of the courses offered in the program are eligible for dual enrollment credit with the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The program is funded primarily through the Sherwood Foundation, but receives support from the UNMC College of Medicine Alumni Association, UNMC and Omaha Public Schools.