News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Registered Nurse Rachel Seekins, right, demonstrates CPR technique to LR students. - Jacob Wagner photos
Sam Brunner, a PA-C, or physician's assistant-certified, helps Dr. Sam Hsieh, general surgeon at Coulee Medical Center, as he demonstrates a knot tying technique to Lake Roosevelt students at the career fair held at the school last week.
Pat Tracy, program director of the Medical Laboratory Technology Department at Wenatchee Valley College, helps LR students experience putting a needle in a life-like arm to draw blood.
by Jacob Wagner
Lake Roosevelt students got a taste of what it's like to work at a hospital, an environment some could end up working at one day.
Coulee Medical Center helped give LR students the experience of what it might be like to be a surgeon, nurse, or medical assistant during a career fair held at the LR gym on Oct. 5.
There, high school students from LR, Almira-Coulee-Hartline, and Wilbur were able to speak with CMC employees and participate in activities that simulated surgery, CPR, drawing blood, and more.
Representatives from Big Bend and Wenatchee Valley colleges were also present to help detail the path toward careers in the medical field.
LR staff member Susan Duclos helped organize the event, and said that Reesa Gorr was one student who was likely to go into the medical field, and the event helped her learn about that career path.
Gorr, a senior, said having family in the medical field was one influence on her taking that option seriously, herself. She said she'd likely go into being a certified or registered medical assistant and work in the Coulee area.
That works out for CMC, which can use the help.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sam Hsieh said that there are needs in all areas of staffing, including doctors, nurses, medical assistants, lab technicians, and all other roles at the hospital.
He said the hands-on experience of the career fair was good for students to get a real sense of what it might be like to work in the medical field, rather than simply imagining what it might be like.
Hsieh demonstrated to students some of the tools he uses in surgeries and explained the different applications of the tools.
Students were able to experience the meticulous nature of performing surgery as they used tools to move items around a peg board-like item, or pick up small items and place them into a small opening of another item.
At another station, nurses showed students how to find their own pulse, and how to perform CPR properly - on dummies.
Wenatchee Valley Community College staffed a booth where a lifelike arm was available for students to practice sticking a needle in, as if drawing blood, then to remove the needle and secure it properly.
When he was learning how to draw blood, the instructor noted, they didn't have a dummy arm to practice on; they had to practice on their classmates.
Students were eager to do the exercise, and some expressed interest in going into the medical field.
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