On July 18, more than two dozen Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers from across the state of North Carolina visited UNC-Chapel Hill to learn more about health career opportunities for their students through an immersive experience within the health professions campus.
Statewide Collaboration to Promote Paths to Health Sciences Professions
The idea for TarHeal Tour was born from conversations between Division of Clinical Laboratory Science Assistant Professor Susan Taylor, Melissa Leeds and Barbara Burt, both from the North Carolina Department of Instruction (DPI). Taylor was interested in garnering interest in laboratory professions for students and sustaining that interest by getting teachers – particularly those in Health Sciences – excited about laboratory professions as well. Their conversations evolved into a partnership between the university and the DPI to create an event that would generate awareness of health sciences professions and the multiple pathways high school students can take to enter those professions, including laboratory science.
Prior to her connection with the DPI, Taylor had been building relationships across the state through the Office of Rural Initiatives at UNC, where she and her colleagues provided career day tabling events and in-class programs for students in rural area high schools.
“It was clear to me that our goal of driving health sciences career awareness would be best served by focusing on the teachers,” said Taylor. “Teachers know their students, their interests and strengths and can expose students to career ideas that may have not been considered previously. Plus, teachers remain at the school after their students graduate, so the knowledge base is more sustainable.”
With the teachers already gathered at their Annual CTE Summer Meeting at the Benton Convention Center in nearby Winston Salem, the TarHeal Tour team offered the event as a VIP activity for CTE at the conclusion of their meeting.
UNC Health Professions Welcome Health Sciences Teachers to Campus
On the morning of the event, 27 CTE teachers were welcomed at the Bell Tower by Rameses Jr., along with program leaders and supporters. From there, the group moved to Roper Hall and had the opportunity to see their “name in lights” on the big screen over Kenan Stadium. Over breakfast, the group discussed the ongoing healthcare workforce shortages across the state, with emphasis that the teachers were key to supporting their students’ interest and awareness.
To give more insight into the health professions careers available to their students, the teachers rotated to career experiences in the Adams School of Dentistry and Eshelman School of Pharmacy, lab simulation in the School of Medicine’s Roper Hall, and received a tour of McLendon Labs within UNC Hospitals. The Division of Radiologic Science, the Department of Health Sciences’ second undergraduate program representative for the event, presented during lunch.
The simulations and lab experiences in the School of Medicine and School of Dentistry offered an attractive draw for teachers to add in-person experience to some information they already know about those professions. From there, the TarHeal Tour Team were able to expand upon their experience by sharing about the value of pharmacy, laboratory and radiologic science careers and their contributions to the interprofessional activity that contributes to the health and wellness of each patient.
Key Takeaways and Future Opportunities
“The event was the first of its kind for these teachers,” said Taylor. “The format has been proven to work for them, and they were very positive about their experience – one participant shared that it was the best conference session they had attended in their past five years of teaching.”
In a survey following the event, participants indicated that before attending TarHeal Tour, most (48 percent) were only somewhat aware of the healthcare workforce shortages in North Carolina. After the event, 100 percent of respondents indicated they were aware of the shortages across the state. Respondents were eager to continue receiving information from the event organizers and hoped to continue learning from other health professions in future events.
The success of TarHeal Tour 2024 indicates a growing need for communication and partnership between health professions, particularly those programs at state universities like UNC, to help strengthen the pipeline of North Carolina students entering health sciences fields and, in effect, help alleviate the ongoing workforce shortages in these fields.
For Taylor and the Division of Clinical Laboratory Science, the success of TarHeal Tour and other initiatives – including the Lab Life on the Hill Live Stream – continue to open doors to educate teachers across the state about the profession. Later this fall, CLS faculty will visit the southeast portion of the state for a Steeples Grant-funded, full-day event at Cape Fear Community College. The event will focus on 15 CTE teachers and Career Development Coordinators from each of the five counties in the SEAHEC region.
In the future, Taylor hopes to offer mentoring opportunities for high school students who are interested in pursuing clinical laboratory science in college, to support them along their path toward the profession. Additionally, opportunities for other Department of Health Sciences programs – both undergraduate and graduate level – to participate in day-long education events would allow for teachers to fully explore potential opportunities for their students.
Acknowledgements
The Office of Rural Initiatives, Nicole Cornett and Edye Barbour, paid for and completed all of the operational organizing and heavy lifting for TarHeal Tour 2024. Programming at the Adams School of Dentistry was led by Lamont Lowery, School of Medicine Programming by Nicole Cornett, and programming at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy was led by Jana Smith. Dr. Tara Moon and Lisa Cremeans lead tours of McLendon Laboratories and Randy Gay presented on behalf of Radiologic Science. Joy Renner was instrumental in getting the CTE teacher up in lights at Kenan Stadium.
The Department of Health Sciences appreciates the teamwork and collaboration involved in the creation and execution of the event and looks forward to future opportunities to continue working together to advance UNC’s mission – including during TarHeal Tour 2025, for which funding has already been secured.