County students discover healthcare careers

SUPERIOR - On Wednesday, February 5, St.Regis High School and Alberton High School students will take part in a R.E.A.C.H. program hosted by Mineral Community Hospital. On the consecutive Wednesday, Superior High School students will attend an identical program. R.E.A.C.H., which stands for Research and Explore Awesome Careers in Healthcare, was developed by the Montana Area Health Education Center in 2007. The Western Montana Area Health Education Center (WMT-AHEC) R.E.A.C.H. program provides an opportunity for students to have hands-on exposure to latest equipment, practices, and procedures in the healthcare industry. Students will spend the morning at Mineral Community Hospital (MCH), working in teams, rotating through a variety of departments, where MCH professionals will provide a close-up view of job duties, daily practice, policy and procedures, and explain the education and training required for their positions.Larry Putnam, Mineral Community Hospital CEO and hospital staff are choreographing the day’s events to include student visits to Radiology, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Lab, Surgery and ER.

This is the second year Mineral Community Hospital has hosted a R.E.A.C.H. program for Mineral County high school students. MCH is well aware that the healthcare workforce in Montana is a key component to the economic viability of the state, as well as the vital factor in sustaining the health of our rural communities. Health care occupations in Montana are expected to grow by a combined 1,300 jobs per year, the fastest occupational job growth exiting the recession. (MT Dept. of Labor & Industry Research & Analysis Bureau, “Montana Employment Projections: 2011-2021”). To fill these positions and meet this need, programs such as R.E.A.C.H. have been developed to give students early exposure to healthcare industry and the many attractive healthcare career choices available.

Western Montana Area Health Education Center, located on the UM campus, coordinates R.E.A.C.H. programs at hospitals throughout the 7-county western region of Montana. There are four MT AHEC regional offices: Western MT AHEC in Missoula; North Central MT AHEC and South Central MT AHEC housed in Helena; and Eastern MT AHEC in Billings; and the AHEC program office in Bozeman. R.E.A.C.H. is one of several K-12 Pipeline Programs that MT AHEC provides to schools and communities throughout the state. The Pipeline Programs fulfill a portion of MT AHEC’s mission to connect students to careers, professionals to communities to better health.

For more information about Western Montana AHEC’s K-12 Pipeline Programs, visit www.wmtahec.org.