Students Get Exposure to Medical Professions

A number of high school students took part in a career based educational experience this summer learning about careers in the medical field from healthcare professionals.

chemistry teacher Dan Pignatiello, who heads the program, told the at a recent meeting that there had been a lot of interest from students who took the program last year to take it again this summer. Therefore he took the program up a notch working in a second part based on shadowing health care professionals.

Over a 10-day period, the students got hands on experience in various aspects of the medical professional. Pignatiello, who formerly worked at Englewood Hospital, said he was able to teach the students the basics of what goes on in a hospital in a classroom setting. The students learned how to take blood pressure and learned how to draw a syringe using stuffed teddy bears as patients.

Through a series of field trips, students got to learn how a cardiac catheterization is done from a doctor at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Passaic. They met a chiropractor who demonstrated how an adjustment is done, met a physical therapist and also got to see the inside of Oradell Animal Hospital and visited Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

Pignatiello explained that the goal for the second part of the program was to let students shadow professionals giving them an opportunity to get a feel for what careers in the medical technical field may be like. 

This part of the program was difficult to set up and some things unfortunately fell through, he said. However Walgreens thankfully came through and eleven students had the opportunity to shadow pharmacists at various area locations, explained Pignatiello.

The opportunities the students experienced gave them a chance to see if the careers they are interested in is really what they want to do for a living or not, helping them seek out the right course of study when they decide where to go to school, he explained.