Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Bringing Healthy Career Choices to Roosevelt High

Photos and story by James Hill

by Merlin DouglassLast year, 17-year-old Josie Garrison wasn’t sure what she would do when she graduated from high school. Though she longed to be part of the medical field, she didn’t think she could afford to continue her education when she graduated from Roosevelt High School in north Portland. "I felt like a nervous wreck,"she said. "All of a sudden I was a year away from graduating and I thought, ?What am I going to do now?’? It wasn’t that she wasn’t willing to work hard to make her dreams come true but she had her son, Austin, to support. Even though she had followed the health occupation pathway through high school, she knew perfectly well that her high school studies alone wouldn’t be enough to find a job in the health field. Fortunately for Garrison and others, Roosevelt was selected to participate in an experimental program with Portland Community College which brings PCC’s Medical Assisting program to the high school. She could take medical assistant classes while she continued to work toward her high school degree."We chose to work with Roosevelt because of the demographics,"said Edward Roberts, manager of alternative programs curriculum instruction for the PCC High School Completion program. "Historically, Roosevelt students have a low participation rate in post-secondary education. If we could make the program work there we could demonstrate the value of this model of education. We had to convince not only the school that this kind of education was possible, but also the students and their parents as well." The program is designed to make the classroom aspect of education as real as possible for students. After each of the three distinct areas of study that include administrative, clinical, and a focus on a medical specialty, students work in clinics around the Portland area for an academic term to ground their knowledge in practical experience. Venetta Abdellatif, clinic manager with the Providence Family Medical Center, said her experience with the Roosevelt students convinced her that the students were well prepared to contribute to a real-world work environment. "We have a very complicated system here,"she said. "We have two computer systems and being a family practice, it’s a lot more difficult to keep up with the various illnesses people have, but our student was energetic and willing to do whatever we asked of her. When she finished the jobs she was given, she asked for more work. I was more than satisfied." The partnership program with Roosevelt is exactly the same one that other PCC students follow since the curriculum is determined by the requirements of the national exam, which students take at the end of their study. "It was tough on the kids,"said Lynette Thom, on the PCC Medical Assisting faculty and an instructor for the Roosevelt students. "But they have matured wonderfully through the process."The students needed a little extra help at the beginning, she says, to help them learn how to study at a college level. "It was a challenge,"said Garrison, "None of us were prepared for college tests so it was a real eye-opener, but definitely worth it." Joan Hayward, dean of the Medical Technology and Science division at the Cascade Campus says the program really shows how industry and educational institutions can make a difference in the lives of students. "It was based on industry needs, so the kids who graduate will enter a field in which there is a real demand for their skills,"she said. "It is good for students who otherwise might not have even thought about additional education after high school. And of course, it’s good for us because we can reach into the community to do what we do best; bring students, skills and opportunities together."