KSB introduces high school students to health-care careers

DIXON – “Who has sewing experience?”

It was a simple question asked of high school students, and it may have seemed a bit odd coming from the doctor who asked it.

But it was one that helped Dr. Nathan Mauren explain how to suture a cut, which he detailed to students attending the first KSB University at Dixon’s KSB Hospital on Monday.

“This is essentially sewing,” he said to the four students at his table, who were there as part of the daylong event that brought 24 students interested in pursuing health-care careers onto the hospital campus.

Hilary Thomas, KSB’s director of professional practice and development, said those chosen to attend KSB University came from across the region that KSB serves. Those selected had to be either a freshman or sophomore and have an interest in health care. The hope is to attract students to a career in health care, and specifically at KSB, Thomas said.

“We want to plant the seed,” she said. “We want the kids to know that, whether it’s now or in the future, KSB Hospital is here, and we want them to come back for job-shadowing experiences or a career here at the hospital.”

“We want to plant the seed. We want the kids to know that, whether it’s now or in the future, KSB Hospital is here, and we want them to come back for job-shadowing experiences or a career here at the hospital.”

—  Hilary Thomas, KSB Hospital's director of professional practice and development

Representatives from the Whiteside Area Career Center, Sauk Valley Community College and the Area Health Education Center also were on-site to tell students about local avenues of health care education and how to start their journey on their way to a health care career, Thomas said.

It’s a career field expected to have a high demand over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall employment in health care occupations is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations from 2022 to 2032, the agency said. About 1.8 million openings are projected each year on average in those occupations because of employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave the occupations permanently.

To introduce them to the health care field, students were exposed to a wide array of health care services, lab work, respiratory therapy, emergency services and wound care among them.

Doctors volunteered their time to instruct students in everything from hands-on suturing to a guiding them through a laparoscopic surgery simulation.

Students also heard about obstetrics and infant care and went through circuit trainings in which they learned how to start an intravenous line, insert a nasogastric tube and do physical therapy massage techniques.

Thomas said a medical escape room in which students were asked “to create a concoction for a vaccine so we don’t have a zombie apocalypse” would round out the day’s activities, a roster she hoped in the future will draw them into the health care field and possibly consider KSB as a future employer.

“Just planting the seed to let them know we are here, we want to help, we want to see them through if they want to be in the health care field,” she said.