Career and Leadership Development Academy Healthcare Day Blog (Class of 2023)

Throughout the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Development Academy eight month program, each of the eight middle schools are assigned a day to write about their experiences. 41 students from across all eight New Hanover County middle schools participated in the seventh industry exploration day, Healthcare, on March 9. Students had the opportunity to hear from a number of healthcare leaders as they took a field trip to Novant Health to meet with real employees at the hospital. Below is the seventh blog write up of the first ever Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Academy experience written by International School at Gregory participants.

Have you ever really thought about what it's like inside of a hospital? The detailed careers inside a hospital? On March 9th we visited Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center and got to dive deep into what it’s like being behind the scenes at Novant Health Hospital.

We were led to the auditorium in the Betty Cameron Women’s and Children’s Clinic, where we were greeted by the CLDA adults and Heather King, president and COO of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center. 

Heather King (president of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center) introduced us to her amazing journey of how she became who she is. Ms. King told us about how she started off and gave us important life lessons. She told us that she has switched her occupation multiple times in the medical field, showing us that what you choose to do when you first go to school doesn't mean you are obliged to be in that occupation for the rest of your life. She had told us that she made lists of things she needed to do when she was working another job and soon enough she became a leader. Her boss asked her why she had not applied to be chief of the hospital although she had never thought about it. Her boss told her “If your not part of the solution you are part of the problem.” That quote was really inspiring and I loved being able to hear from Heather King!

After Ms. King finished, we were then divided into groups and taken on tours throughout the hospital. Here are some of the cool places we got to visit…

One of the many places we visited was the rehabilitation center. We saw a lot of exercising machines as well as some pretty cool things. One of the things we saw was a car and they asked what we thought the car was for. We thought it was to teach the patients how to drive after not driving for a long time. But they told us it was actually to teach the patients how to get in a car and they said imagine there was a family member and the member came to pick them up. They would want to get in the car safely on their own. We also saw they had a kitchen and they explained that it was so the patients  found ingredients, paid for the ingredients, cooked and cleaned on their own. There was also a bed which was for the patients to get to the bed safely. That was all that we saw in this part of the experience.

Our group then got led into the respiratory lab. The respiratory therapist showed us some fascinating technology made for patients needing help with breathing. She told us that sometimes respiratory therapists need to assist people with breathing. The respiratory therapist started off by showing us how she inserts a breathing tube for patients who need air put inside them because they have trouble breathing. They have a camera with a light to see completely what is going on inside a patient's lungs. The camera she uses is on something almost like a plastic string with a small round light and tiny camera. The handle of the camera has a latch that if you press it it will turn the camera showing all sides of the lungs. You can take pictures of the area and save them. She then showed us one of the machines called a ventilator that they use to pump air into the lungs. They heat the air making it moist and ready for the patient's lungs as if the air was coming from the body. She turned on the machine to give us further visualization. She really showed us what it was like to be in the shoes of a respiratory therapist!

Another place we visited on the tour was the Lab. They led us to this room where we were split into 2 groups. One of the groups got to look under a microscope to see a skin sample of a uterus with a tumor. They were able to cut it into really thin pieces by putting it into a clay block. Then they cut it really thin so you can see the skin cells under the microscope. After we finished with that we switched stations with the other group. In this station, they tested blood and talked to us about parasites and bacterias. They showed us some parasites that were dead. They also talk about what each color cap means on test tubes. After that we headed to the last place on our tour, the Pharmacy.

We got to experience the behind the scenes in the pharmacy that they have in the building. There we learned about the different types of medicine that they have and their purpose. They showed us the different crash carts and boxes they have for certain medical situations. There are hundreds of different types of medicine specialists there but the three most common ones are family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics. And that was the last place on our tour of the hospital, we then headed back to the auditorium for lunch.

After lunch, we were given the opportunity to hear from several speakers about their careers in the healthcare field.

Robert E. Collins is a certified orthotist that works on prosthetics limbs. He specializes in multiple types of prosthetics for people that has lost or were born without a limb. The company he works for is called Atlantic Prosthetic Services. He showed us different types of prosthetic limbs. He had one if you lost your foot and you wanted to run and walk again. There was this prosthetic limb that supports the leg if your legs are not strong enough to walk on your own. He was telling us about one of his patients that was a little kid and they are very nice. He made a prosthetic limb just for them with their favorite colors. Robert E. Collins says he has lots of fun at his job and enjoys it a lot.

Angela Deskins (Office Manager eye care center) taught us about the different pairs of glasses and what they are for. Every pair of glasses is different, the eye doctor has to figure out exactly what they need to do to your pair of glasses to help you be able to see. If you want to be an optometrist you have to get an O.D. (Doctor of Optometry) degree or a bachelor's degree. If you were to work in the front office you would not need one. 

Dr. Bill Milner told us all of the jobs and experiences he has had in the dental field. He also specified how much the occupations get paid like hygienist, dentist and the dentist assistant which all range from 60-170k. He also told us a phrase that stood out to us “don't be afraid to do something different.” He explained that he specialized in working with patients who had disabilities because they would usually not get the same treatment as others just for being different. He ended his presentation with some facts. He told us that you need a 4.0 gpa coming out of high school, he also said that there's a lot of college and studying. Afterwards, they went on to the next presentation.   

Last but certainly not least is Sankofa Training Institute, Suprena Hickman (Founder) Nurse. Nurse Hickman taught us about how she became a nurse and helped us understand the

importance of being self-owned and pursuing your own career. She specializes in health coaching and personal development training as well as being a nurse. Suprena Hickman’s philosophy is “you can be whatever you want to be.” I feel as though she is a really inspiring person as she is a self-owned nurse. She instructed us that one of the most important things to starting a business is building a strong foundation. Her special advice to us was to not let anyone tell you what you can and can't do and to study your craft daily; meaning practice what you love and what you are good at daily so you can be an expert at it. 

This was an amazing experience to get to know what it is like to be behind the scenes at a hospital. Now, do you have an interest in getting a job in the medical field