University students will be sharing their campus with more than a hundred middle school students on Friday.
In order to help younger students prepare for their futures, two of the University’s College of Education programs, the Youth Enrichment and Talented and Gifted Programs, are co-sponsoring Career MED, a career fair designed to educate middle school students about professional options in the medical field.
Jane Mickles, coordinator of the Youth Enrichment and TAG Programs, thinks the fair encourages younger students to think about their futures.
“Middle schoolers have no idea [that] when they get to high school, they’ll have to make career decisions,” she said.
The Youth Enrichment Program and the TAG Programs are offered to Lane County elementary and middle school students. Both offer students a number of activities to improve computer skills and introduce students to new interests, such as theater and writing.
Participants will spend the afternoon at the University, meeting professors and touring various laboratories around campus. Students will tour the athletic training service center, the motion control lab and the biomechanics sports lab, said Kimberley Mangun, assistant director of the International Institute for Sports and Human Performance.
Dr. Li-Shan Chou, an assistant professor in the Exercise and Movement Science department, will be guiding Career MED students through the biomechanics sports lab tour.
Chou, a new faculty member at the University, specializes in the biomechanical analysis of human movement and rehabilitation engineering. Along with two graduate student assistants, Chou will show students the lab facilities and educate them on the basics of biomechanical science. He said he hopes the event gives students more guidance for their future.
Mangun, who is assisting in the organizing of Career MED, hopes that students will get a good overview of the programs offered at the University.
This year the University programs are sponsoring the event with PeaceHealth Medical Center.
Linda Hawley, PeaceHealth Medical Center public affairs coordinator, said the career fair is important because it’s a rare opportunity for middle school students to explore health care professions before entering high school.
Participating students will begin their day at Sacred Heart Medical Center where they will visit three of the hospital’s 10 departments, learning about subjects such as dietary information, emergency room standards and the duties of hospital nurses. Students will also break into small groups to meet physicians and ask them questions.
Mangun, who is assisting in the organizing of Career MED, hopes that students will get a good overview of the programs offered at the University.
The Career MED Career Fair takes place Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.