Metro Schools and Saint Thomas Health Cultivate the Next Generation of Healthcare Professionals
| WHAT | For the second year, Saint Thomas Health is partnering with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to introduce high school seniors to health care professions through the Saint Thomas Health Scholars Program. Saint Thomas Health is part of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic and non-profit health system.
This coming school year, 118 high school seniors from across Metro Nashville school district’s nine health care academies will participate in the program. The participating students were selected through a peer interview process. This year’s program will officially launch Thursday, August 10, 2017, when the students are commissioned in a ceremony at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital’s Gladys Stringfield Auditorium. Throughout the school year, Saint Thomas Health Scholars receive weekly, hands-on mentoring from a Saint Thomas Health professional and sit for a certification exam to receive the Clinical Certified Medical Assistant (CCMA) designation at the end of the school year. Certified graduates have the opportunity to be hired immediately and receive future scholarship opportunities.
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| WHY | A 2015 Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce workforce development study found that by the year 2020, more than half of all new job openings in middle Tennessee will be in computer technology, nursing and advanced manufacturing. The Saint Thomas Health Scholars Program was developed to help meet this need and is the first program of its kind in the United States. Last year, 101 students from across the district participated in Saint Thomas Health Scholars.
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| WHO | Administration from both Metro Nashville Public Schools and Saint Thomas Health will be in attendance and presenting information. One hundred students and their families from across the district who have been selected to be a part of the program for the 2017-2018 school year will be commissioned during the event.
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| WHEN | Thursday, August 10, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The program will start at 6 p.m. |
| WHERE | Gladys Stringfield Auditorium at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital, 2000 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37236. MEDIA: Please park in the horseshoe entrance off 21st Avenue by the water foundation in patient parking. The doors of the GSO are located nearby. |
