LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — The health care field includes more than just doctors and nurses, and students from across West Central Ohio recently visited Mercy Health–St. Rita’s Medical Center to learn about the wide range of career opportunities available.
Some of the students have already begun pursuing careers in health care and were exploring areas where they might specialize. Others, interested in helping people, were trying to determine whether the health care field might be the right fit for their future education.
By participating in the event, students had the chance to explore different aspects of the industry and walk away with answers to questions about their potential career paths.
“I never thought I'd end up wanting to be in healthcare. And then one day, I just saw something that just hit a light in me, and I was like, This is what I want to be in. I want to be in healthcare," said Payton Bechtol, a junior at Columbus Grove. "And I think being here gives you a whole bunch of different views. You get to see a whole bunch of different things. You know, it's not like you're just going straight into nursing. You're going to go see respiratory stuff, you're going to go see newborns, you're gonna go see a whole bunch of different things, and you really don't know what the day is gonna end up for you, and you may end up finding something completely different that you didn't know you'd want to do.”
By participating in the event, students had the chance to explore different aspects of the industry and walk away with answers to questions about their potential career paths.
Mercy Health staff guided the students through tours of various departments, including opportunities to observe and engage in hands-on activities inside the hospital’s training lab.
“There’s so much to do within the healthcare field. So, you don’t have to be a nurse, you don’t have to be a phlebotomist. There’s so many other avenues. So just being able to see some different ideas and to perk some interest," said Stacy Braun, clinical nurse manager at Mercy Health–St. Rita’s. "Sometimes, whenever students see it in real life, they realize they do have a passion for it. They do say like, ‘Oh, I could see myself doing that,’ or, ‘Wow, that really made me think, and it may open some other doors and opportunities.’ So, we want to give that to our students.”
Events like this are designed to provide students with valuable exposure to the possibilities within the health care field—whether they’ve long dreamed of a medical career or are just beginning to consider it.
