Over the years of schooling, students from Harlingen School of Health Professions are exposed to different therapeutic areas. As a chance to prepare them for practical experience, educators embed it with Body Interact clinical cases.
Lily Conde, an educator for 15 years in this High School, believes the virtual patient simulator provides a “smoother transition into the community, into a setting where they are actually working on real patients”.
According to the high school educator, in their first years, students may experience some difficulties. However, as they “work together and continue the program, they advance and get ready for real world situations”. “With the help of the big interactive table and the distance learning modality, students are able to keep their learning on-going” in an educational, interactive and digital way, concluded Lily.
“Simulate the skills students have just learned” is one of the main benefits highlighted by the educators from Harlingen School of Health Professions. Body Interact allows students to “think critically, learn how to collaborate with their peers, feel the real-life pressure, make mistakes and learn with them”.
”I know you all know how to wash your hands and know how to do CPR. But let’s do it again and again.
Lily CondeEducator at Harlingen School of Health Professions
The 4 C’s of healthcare professionals
When students apply to the Harlingen School of Health Professions the administration ensures that all candidates know what to expect from the program and what they are commiting to.
From the early years, the school recognizes the importance of working on soft skills. They therefore support their students development of the 4 C’s: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical thinking.
Also, law and ethics courses are included through the different years of the program to foster development according to the students’ level.
”The theoretical knowledge is important because we want them to become the best professionals possible. But soft skills are also essential.
Tina GarzaPrincipal of Harlingen School of Health Professions
Character development is critical.
We talk about self-awareness, the tenacity they need and how important is collaborative work.
Create real world connections
For Lily Conde “it’s amazing to see how students grow with Body Interact when we put them in the community”. Due to the student’s effort and the educators’ responsibility, they “can just step back and watch” their learners making decisions on virtual patients.
Based on the trust the school has in its students and how confident senior students are in their skills, together with different campuses across the district, Harlingen School of Health Professions has developed a one-month program to get 5th year students from the district in contact with the medical field. High School students took leadership roles and were responsible for sharing and providing an experience with Body Interact.
Lily Conde explains that “introducing medicine early on allows students to understand and know if this is something they enjoy”. It’s about “discovering the future”, concludes Tina Garza, principal of the school.
Due to the success of the experience, the District created a further middle school experience. They already had science, technology, engineering and math but medicine is now introduced into the program.
