Berry College nursing student Ansley Kimberly recently learned an important lesson – she can handle the sight of blood.
That’s because Kimberly, of Douglasville, Ga., was allowed to observe cardiac surgeries by shadowing an anesthesiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Berry is providing a new kind of firsthand experience for Kimberly and other pre-med and nursing students through a shadowing program.
“I found out that I can handle seeing blood,” Kimberly said. “I now know I want to work with children in either the ICU (intensive care unit) or the OR (operating room).”
Kimberly recommends the shadowing program because it can help students evaluate the various medical areas. ‘Experience it Firsthand’ is the mantra at Berry, and it’s a concept that resounds with the pre-medical and nursing students. Berry’s Career Center and Science Department has been working with Floyd, Redmond and Harbin medical centers and clinics to find opportunities in the Rome community as well as students’ hometowns.
The Career Center seeks to connect students with alumni who work in the medical field. The Alumni Network Center is open to all students. It allows students to ask questions, shadow or even intern with the alumni.
While the Career Center focuses on developing opportunities through alumni, Adjunct Biology Professor Joseph McDade and Glenda Orloff, director of Berry’s dual-degree nursing program, are aiming to equip students with the skills they need to act professionally through Blue Ridge Area Health Education Center.
Orloff aims to place her nursing students in the Rome community to complete volunteer hours and gain practical nursing experience during the school year. Orloff sees this as a valuable opportunity, and Redmond’s volunteer coordinator, Freda Gipson, agrees.
“It puts them in the setting to act as a medical professional, work with colleagues and learn how to interact with all types of people,” said Freda Gipson. They have a number of business and physical therapy students participate as well.
McDade has been working to develop a relationship between Blue Ridge AHEC and Berry. Blue Ridge AHEC is an organization that seeks to connect students to health careers, professionals to communities and communities to better health. Whether the student is able to commit for one day, one week, a full clinical rotation or for the entire semester, Blue Ridge AHEC is devoted to helping educate medical students in the varying fields of medicine, so that students are able to find one that suits their interest.
For more information on how to participate in the program visit: http://www.blueridgeahec.org/professionals-to-communities/clinical-training/floyd-medical-center/student-resources
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Written by Public Relations Student Assistant McKenzie Reeves