By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School students are being exposed to various health care professions by participating in a new club.
LHS juniors Jerusha Robins and Grace Peña gave an overview of the new Healthcare Occupation Students of America (HOSA) club at LHS during the School Committee’s May 20 meeting. Jerusha said biology teacher Zachary Billings’ serves as the club’s advisor.
“We are two of the six founders of the HOSA chapter at our school,” said Jerusha. “The reason why we wanted to start this club is because we have seen so many students who want to go into a health care profession, but there has really never been a club at our school to really focus on growing this passion. There are some science clubs, but there isn’t any that really focuses on what life after high school looks like.”
Jerusha said the HOSA club invites doctors and health care professionals to come and speak with students. She said Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu is one the club founders’ mothers, and works as the NICU medical director of pediatric medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“She taught us how to do tracheal intubation and umbilical arterial catheterization, which is what real med students are doing,” said Jerusha. “It was really cool as a high school student to see what you can do in the future when you work as a doctor.”
Grace said the HOSA club also invited representatives from the medical device manufacturing company Stryker to give a presentation to students.
“They create life-changing devices in all types of fields like orthopedics, neurotechnology and surgery,” said Grace. “We had a model replica of a knee, and we had the opportunity to put in mini cameras. With tools, we could simulate how surgeons use this technology by putting little cameras in there to be able to perform surgery outside of the knee.”
Jerusha said HOSA club member Sarah Mitchell gave a presentation on CPR.
“This really goes to show how we want to grow our club,” said Jerusha. “We want students to teach what they know, but also have other health care professionals teach us what we don’t know. Sarah taught us CPR, how to use AEDs (automated external defibrillators) and the Stop the Bleed program. We really want to create an environment to really foster growth in health care professions and what our future could look like.”
Grace said Dr. Anthony Samir, who is an interventional radiologist, an associate chair of medical imaging science at Massachusetts General Hospital, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Center for Ultrasound Research and Translation, discussed “various imaging modalities” with HOSA club members.
“He discussed ultrasound, X-rays, CTs, MRIs and the differences between interventional and non-interventional radiology,” said Grace. “We also saw a demonstration of a butterfly handheld, which is an ultrasound device that has many uses as it is mobile and allows flexibility with patients.”
Jerusha said the HOSA club has also hosted lectures and participated in virtual tours.
“Dr. Bakhos Tannous, who is another one of our members’ fathers, is the head of the neuro-oncology discovery at AstraZeneca and was also a professor at Harvard Medical School,” said Jerusha. “He taught us about neurology and oncology.”
Jerusha said Dr. Abdulhayoglu gave HOSA club members a virtual tour of Brigham and Women’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which she said gave students a better idea of “what it is like to be an actual doctor.”
“You can read textbooks and do tracheal intubation and all of these things, but you don’t know what it is actually like to be a doctor,” said Jerusha. “We are really appreciative that she showed us what life could look like if you are a doctor.”
Grace said the HOSA club’s mission to “empower future health professionals to become leaders in the global health community through education, collaboration and experience.” She said the HOSA club has applied for grants that were used to purchase suture kits and first aid kits in order to provide “further opportunities” to club members. She said meeting with health care professionals has enabled students to “gain a better feel for each profession.”
Jerusha said the HOSA club wants to attend leadership conferences and competitions next year in order to allow students to “grow and learn” more.
“Next year, we hope to raise funds for that,” said Jerusha.
Jerusha said the HOSA club has “expanded our passion and learning beyond the classroom.”
“HOSA shapes us into students who are ready to make a difference as we approach adulthood, go to college and our professions later,” said Jerusha. “It fuels our passion for health care and pushes us to become lifelong learners, innovators and advocates for health. It has allowed us to take information we learn in the classroom, and connect it to real world heath scenarios. Through this, we have been able to learn more about ourselves and do further research into these career paths as a possible outcome for our futures.”
After Jerusha and Grace finished giving their presentation, the meeting’s attendees gave them a round of applause.
SC commends HOSA
School Committee Chair Kristen Grieco Elworthy said Jerusha and Grace gave a “great presentation.”
“It is very impressive how everyone rolled out these programs and the work you have put in to get such amazing programming in just one year,” said Elworthy. “I love seeing everyone pursuing these interests outside of the classroom.”
Elworthy asked if the 2024-2025 academic year was the first year HOSA has been an LHS club.
Jerusha said yes.
School Committee member Jamie Hayman said he was “really proud” of Jerusha, Grace and the rest of the HOSA club’s members.
“This is really, really cool stuff,” said Hayman. “I know business, but I don’t know health care. I am fascinated and amazed when I hear high school students talking about things like arterial catheterization.”
Hayman asked Jerusha and Grace if they are interested in working in health care.
“For me personally, I knew that I always wanted to do something in health care, but I didn’t know exactly what,” said Jerusha. “This club has really helped me narrow down the list. I want to do surgery now. Seeing all of these different professions really shows the variety in the health care field.”
Grace said she wants to work in the health care profession, but she has yet to decide which field.
“It has been a great opportunity seeing all kinds of different fields,” said Grace.
School Committee Vice Chair Jim Dillon said there are “terrific career opportunities” in the health care profession.
“The initiative for you to do this is so impressive,” said Dillon. “You did a wonderful job. Health care is a huge part of our economy and a growing part of our economy. There are a lot of opportunities, and the technology is ever-changing. It’s a great thing to be looking at and is also an opportunity to make a huge contribution to society.”
School Committee member Kate DePrizio said Jerusha and Grace gave a “tremendous presentation.”
“I am so impressed that you were able to look at different angles,” said DePrizio. “I just hope you can grow this so much further. It’s such an honor to be a doctor and give back. I can’t wait to see where you go with this. This is absolutely amazing and supplements your experience at the high school.”
School Committee member Kim Baker Donahue said Jerusha and Grace gave an “amazing” presentation.
“I think the hands-on experience is just invaluable because you can actually go through college without having actual hands-on experience,” said Baker Donahue. “Getting it at this part of your journey is just amazing. Keep doing what you are doing.”
Baker Donahue asked if the HOSA club is open to all students at LHS or just upperclassmen.
“We have kept it open for all grades for the club, but we are thinking next year for the competitions closing it off to just juniors and seniors because it includes biological concepts that (underclassmen) maybe haven’t learned yet in the curriculum,” said Grace.
Jerusha concurred with Grace’s viewpoint.
“Our club still continues to have a lot of the things these conferences include, but for the competitions, we want to keep that for the higher grades,” said Jerusha.