A careers' day showcasing pathways into the local health industry was held last Thursday.
The Deniliquin TAFE, with the Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, ran a hands-on event for interested high school students from the region which displayed a range of health fields.
Katie Friedlieb from Training Services NSW attending were 63 students from Deniliquin High School, Finley High School and Barham High School, made up of primarily Year 10 and some Year 9 students.
“The day allowed them to find out about different health career pathways ahead of school-based traineeships, grow their networks and to get a trial of a variety of different careers,” she said.
During the day, the students got the chance to partake in half a dozen practical health career presentations by Deniliquin health professionals.
“The students were split up and rotated through six sessions including nursing - learning about wound care and taking blood pressure - and we also had some members from the team at SPOT (Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy) speak about allied health.
“We also had some paramedics run some activities.
“There was another activity where groups went to Orana Aged Care for a session.
“The students got to hear information about the jobs and what it is like to work in the different careers.
“The activities went from 10am to 2pm, with each session about half an hour long.”
Ms Friedlieb said it was a worthwhile experience for the students, which would assist decisions about occupational pathways.
“A lot of people like the idea of working in a job, but want to understand what the job actually entails in practice.
“The students got a chance to see what that’s like in a range of health fields, including locally, and whether they liked it.
“We got really positive feedback from the students and teachers about the day.
“Thanks go to the incredible generosity of the presenters.
“This is the second time we’ve done it, and this was definitely bigger than last year.
“We’ll be looking at doing it annually, or maybe every second year into the future.”
After the sessions, students were given the chance to meet and speak with local health providers and find out more about careers, services, employment and study opportunities at both TAFE and Charles Sturt University.
Ms Friedlieb said this is where Three Rivers Department of Rural Health was a great help. It is the rural health partner of Charles Sturt University.
“They collaborated with organising the whole day, and also held the expo with local health providers.
“It included a few different ones where people could talk to them, get information and grab brochures.”