Health Careers and Research Club partners CCA students with medical professionals to learn about job opportunities.
The goal of the Health Careers and Research Club at CCA is to open the door to possibilities.
“This is really useful for students who are passionate about the medical field and also for students who are on the fence and want to know more,” said club adviser Geoffrey Demming, who teaches environmental science from the Dickson City office.
“When I was in school, I liked science and people told me to go to school for biology,” Demming added. “For me, biology was a subject. I didn’t know what you could do with it. This club lets students see what’s behind those degrees.”
The Health Careers and Research Club is one of more than 40 clubs offered at CCA. The club works to coordinate meetings with medical professionals with Dr. Alanna Rahm, a clinical investigator and assistant professor at the Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute in Danville.
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In addition to Rahm, who talked about the genetic components of obesity, club members heard from a child psychologist and a doctor focused on obesity from a nutritional standpoint, both from Geisinger.
This year, Dr. Rahm is working on recruiting five to eight professionals to speak with the club, which has about 20 members. Demming plans to “provide the underlying concepts and foundational knowledge” the students will need before the visits to foster a more informed discussion.
“It’s great for students to hear from specialists in the medical field, because they may not even know these jobs are available,” he said. “It’s important to hear their story and learn what their path looked like.”
Likewise, he said, it’s important for students to understand the educational and training demands of some of the positions so they can make informed decisions about what they would face in these careers.
Demming encourages those who join the club to commit to being active members.
“I understand the demands placed on students and their schedules, but these professionals take time out of their day to work with us,” he said. “I want our members to do all they can to participate and be respectful of the professionals joining us.”
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