Health Career Pipeline Program graduates celebrate their futures in the medical field
According to the graduates of the Health Career Pipeline Program, being a medical professional means having grit, curiosity, optimism, zest and much more.
The HCPP is a collaborative effort between Central Michigan University's College of Medicine and the Michigan Area Health Education Center. Its sight is set on introducing the diversity of health professions to students early in their academic careers.
The nine-week program recruited 26 ninth and 10th graders, often from low-income, rural areas in Central Michigan. The participants dedicated their Monday evenings to attend sessions that teach skills related to various medical careers, from CPR to yoga.
HCPP staff, participants and their families filled the Powers Hall Ballroom on Nov. 25 for the fifth annual ceremony celebrating their graduation from the program.
The program was co-founded in 2014 by CMED alumnus Dr. Nick Cozzi, who is now a second-year medical resident at Spectrum Health.
Cozzi returned to campus to for the keynote presentation at the ceremony.
"The program mission is centered on three things: Personal development, college readiness and health career exposure," he said. "It very much epitomizes the mission of Central Michigan University College of Medicine in the sense that we are building a community."
After Cozzi's speech, students presented characteristics they found important for a health professional, a medical career they were interested in and how they would exhibit that characteristic in the working environment.
While some students were timid during their presentations and their weekly sessions, each was paired with an undergraduate student to guide them through the program.
"I learned how to be more open and how to participate in different social areas… This was a very unique experience." Rose Kothra of Sacred Heart Academy said.
Her undergraduate mentor, Bay City senior Cailynn Aumock would often rush from marching band practice to the HCPP sessions and have to wake up for work early the next morning.
"It's always a bright spot at the beginning of the week, it's something that's so different from the everyday schoolwork," Aumock said.
Through a grant from Huntington Bank, the HCPP will expand to include the Saginaw area in 2020, according to executive director April Osburn.
(The students) know this is about health, they know it's about career exploration but they don't necessarily know all of the details of all the sessions," Osburn said. "Every week you can see those students light up and get more interested in what's available, not just on this campus but in health in general."
