“It is always a pleasure having the Summer Health Professions Career Workshop students on campus,” said Lisa Jewell, director of the UNMC Youth Learning Center. “All of the students are ranked at the top of their class and eager to learn.”
Of the 60 students that applied to attend the four-day workshop only 20 students are accepted. Applicants are chosen based on their grade point average, outside interests and an essay expressing why they want to attend the workshop.
“This has been really helpful,” said John Loschen, a junior from Wilcox, Neb. “I’m a diabetic and I decided that when I was diagnosed three years ago that I wanted to be an endocrinologist.”
While at UNMC the students participated in a variety of hands-on activities including: mixing soft gelatin lozenges in a lab at the College of Pharmacy, drilling and filling a simulated tooth at the College of Dentistry and examining the hearts of a rat, dog and cow in the gross anatomy lab at the College of Medicine.
“This has been a great learning experience,” said Katie Schueths, a junior at the science magnet school at Lincoln Southwest High School. “I’ve probably learned more in the past two days than I have from speakers who have come to our school.”
At the end of the workshop, students were required to research a health career-related topic and then compose a short paper. Students presented their findings to their peers and UNMC staff on the final day of the program.
“Researching and writing these papers gives the students an opportunity to self-reflect, review what they learned, discover what areas of health sciences or health careers they might be interested in, and ultimately, assists them as they plan for their future,” Jewell said.
The following is a listing of the students who participated and their hometowns in alphabetical order.
Atkinson: John Meusch
Auburn: Taylor Pugh
Chadron: Emmy Johnson
Firth: Stephanie Dorn
Fremont: Andrew Jokumsen and Zachary Smith
Hastings: Catherine Koozer
Laurel: David Brandow
Lincoln: Ross Cheloha and Katie Schueths
Newman Grove: Laura Johnson
North Platte: Allison Bean and Eric Van Boening
Ord: Derek Dennis
Schuyler: Ricardo Sanabria
Scottsbluff: Jacob Zitterkopf
Spencer: Mikaela Miller
Ogallala: Alexa Krajewski
Utica: Miranda Leif
Wilcox: John Loschen