News from the Western Regional Community Consortium

2023 Summer Experience

One week each summer the Academy of Health Sciences and Technology (AHST), which is housed at Innovations Central High School of Grand Rapids, travels to four medical Colleges in Michigan to offer a day in the life of a medical student. The program is called the 2023 Summer Experience and offers students exposure to a variety of health careers. One of the colleges visited was Central Michigan University College of Medicine and The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions in Mt. Pleasant. The students were introduced to Dr. Julian Rossignol's Neurology Lab to see all the different jobs needed to run the lab successfully. They also toured the IPEP Center, run by director Amy Malheim, to see how college students work with mechanical patients to learn medical practices such as CPR, tracheotomy and childbirth. The day ended with a suture clinic facilitated by medical students where the AHST students were taught how to create actual suture stitches that would be used during surgery.

The day was packed with health professions information and provided hands-on experiences to intrigue the students to learn more about the education of health careers in a college setting. Chaperones and AHST facilitators shared the enthusiasm of the students and have added Central Michigan University to their list for a biannual visit with the program.

AHST Advisory Board

Last May, April Osburn, executive director of the Mid-Central and Western Regional AHEC and Jayme Martin, program manager, Western Regional Community Consortium, were invited to serve on the advisory board of the Academy of Health Sciences and Technology (AHST) with Innovation Central High School in Grand Rapids. The advisory board is a group of individuals that have some connection with the medical and academic profession. Members of the board serve as a resource of information, assistance and educational support for the administration and faculty for the AHST. The AHST also participates with programs that offer health profession education and exploration to the students that participate with the academy.  A couple of the programs offered at the AHST include the West Michigan Health Career Pipeline Program, AHST Summer Experience and the AHST Student Mentorship program. Each of the programs offer some type of health career exploration and various levels of education but all hold the same values and needs. 

The advisory board meets virtually every month. Meetings include updates on program activity from both the administration and faculty, brainstorms for programming ideas and suggestions for medical and academic community involvement to support and promote the future of health careers.