Why not health care?

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HURON – It’s never too early to seriously begin thinking about a career.
Hundreds of Huron High School students are nearing graduation day, and for a second year in a row the Huron Workforce Development Council hosted an event designed to help them to learn whether a career in the medical field is a possibility for them.
Huron Regional Medical Center was just one of a couple dozen local organizations and agencies showcasing just some of the possibilities at a Health and Wellness Career Expo on Wednesday.
“Young people have so many ideas and options for their future coming at them at one time,” said Dennise Brock, education coordinator at HRMC.
“This event is a way to help them to focus on things that interest them,” she said.
Brooke Sydow, coordinator of workforce development in Huron, said the technical institutes in the eastern part of South Dakota also participated in the expo.
Southeast Technical Institute, Mitchell Technical Institute and Lake Area Technical Institute shared information about the registered nurse, licensed practical nurse and health career programs they offer.
MTI Dean of Enrollment Services Clayton Deuter said MTI is starting its first LPN cohort this fall, offering it as well as many of its long-standing programs in Mitchell.
“The medical openings continue to outpace the number of skilled graduates coming out of the technical institutes,” Deuter said.
For two hours Wednesday morning, groups of students roamed around the booths and displays set up in the high school gym.
Brock said because HRMC recognizes that there is a shortage of qualified persons to staff health care positions in the future, the hospital is engaging in many activities to inspire young people to go into health care and make a difference in the lives of others.
HRMC had two booths at the expo – one focused on nursing and the other on radiology.
The nursing booth, for example, had hotdog injections to simulate intradermal injections. It also had information on HRMC Foundation scholarship opportunities.

MTI’s Deuter said the technical institute has worked with the HRMC Foundation and Huron Clinic to provide scholarship opportunities for students who would like to work in the medical profession in Huron. Specific programs include medical assistant, medical laboratory technology and LPN.
For those seeking work in Beadle County, there are many options in a number of career paths, including health care.
In the United States, the average age of a nurse is 50 years, according to a 2014 American Nurses Association Fast Fact.
ANA estimates the number of new nurses needed between 2012 and 2022 is 1.13 million.
“HRMC is no different,” Brock said. “About 40 percent of our nursing staff is over the age of 50. Health care careers in rural areas like Huron are in need as well.”
Kurt Johns, managing funeral director and employee/owner of Welter Funeral Home, said mortuary science is a college major that many students have never considered or thought about.
“We wanted to participate in the expo to share our profession as licensed funeral directors with the students, along with the educational requirements that also require board certification after college to be licensed in South Dakota and the majority of states,” he said.
He said the current shortage of funeral directors in South Dakota and nationally is only going to increase.
“Because of that, a large number of career opportunities exist in the profession now and in the future,” Johns said.
At the Welter Funeral Home booth, students viewed a cremation urn, bottles of accessory embalming fluid, mortuary cosmetics and photos showing a casket selection room, preparation room and crematory.
Johns also brought along historic photos of funeral service dating to the Civil War and President Lincoln’s funeral.
Dakota Learners and Huron Community Campus participated in the expo to increase awareness of the services the two organizations offer, said Joan Edwards.
“Dakota Learners provides a mentoring service to students who are taking nursing online through Lake Area Technical Institute,” she said. “Huron Community Campus provides college-level face-to-face classes for qualified people from this area.”
Edwards said there are dozens of openings for licensed practical nurses in Huron and the surrounding area. “Every medical facility from the hospital to nursing homes and clinics needs help,” she said.
That goes for the Center for Independence in Huron as well, said Kristin Kline.
“We are definitely feeling the strain of a lack of people to hire,” she said. “There are just more jobs than people available right now, making these career fairs even more important for people to see there are plenty of jobs right here in Huron.”
The agency’s booth had a variety of interactive tools that provided sensory input for those people who have the need. Students visiting the booth experienced some techniques used to assist a person to better be able to focus on a task.
Carr Chiropractic brought electrical stimulation machines to the expo that it uses to do therapies in the clinic.
Students were active participants in feeling and learning what the electrical stimulation does for a patient. “Many young people have already had the experience of this modality due to having an injury or condition that required the treatment of the soft tissue,” said Mickie Scheibe, chiropractic assistant.
Students also used acupuncture needles on oranges to get a similar feeling of how it would be going into human skin. Carr Chiropractic also brought along wobble boards for balance enhancement, a type of therapy used in Carr’s rehabilitation facility.
Chiropractic clinics not only employ chiropractors, but assistants, physical therapists, medical technologists, massage therapists, personal trainers, X-ray technologists, health coaches and receptionists.
“There are youth in our community that would not have access to this hands-on knowledge if it weren’t for events like this,” Scheibe said.
“We want the youth to return to their hometown to continue to grow our community,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by others participating in the event.
“Having a viable career path available once a person graduates from either high school, vo-tech or college is invaluable,” Kline said.