Teaching teachers about healthcare careers for students

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A new program at Sanford Health is designed to give teachers a better understanding of the different career paths in health care.

From laundry service to IT to heart surgery, there is a wide range of jobs, and Sanford wants teachers to let their students know about them.

You’ll usually find Natasha Presler in front of a Brandon Valley High School classroom.
But today, she’s the student. Presler is learning how to properly put on PPE—Personal Protective Equipment—and that’s not all. So far, she’s learned about 15 different professions in the healthcare field. This is information she plans to take back to her classroom.

“I can see lots of different careers. I can get an idea about which types of careers work for certain kids, personalities, based on what they like and then kind of give them more guidance,” said Natasha Presler, Brandon Valley High School Teacher

Career Development consultant Allison Hutchinson says everyone knows about doctors and nurses, but Presler is being exposed to many other occupations.

“Occupational therapist, speech therapist, sports and conditioning coaches, definitely cardiac and vascular sonography invasive cardiovascular technician, and I could go on and on,” said Hutchinson.

Hutchinson sees great promise for this program, especially after seeing how it has impacted Presler.

“My hope is that Natasha had a great experience in that she will share her experience with the teachers that she knows and that we are able to get the word out. I would love to see something like this happen every summer with 3 to 5 teachers or as many as we can get,” said Hutchinson.

Presler says the program has been a great experience, making her a better teacher.

“I’m grateful, I guess, to everyone who’s put it together to be able to experience all these things to bring back to my students and to hopefully give them some ideas for the future,” said Presler.

The program exemplifies how healthcare companies like Sanford are trying to address the growing shortage of young workers entering the medical field.

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