When Tanaya Pinkston was five years old, she witnessed her mother suffering a stroke. It was one of the most terrifying moments of her life, but the compassion and care she received from the 911 operator left a lasting impression.
“As soon as I heard they were the voice of a child on the phone, they were. This was probably a serious situation and they had to take a different approach to it,” Pinkston said.
Pinkston, a senior at McClure Health Science High School in Duluth, Georgia, wants to become a pediatric ICU nurse.
“If I hadn’t come to McClure, I would have known I would want to go to healthcare, but my actual career would never have been solidified, so I would have been wondering,” Pinkston said.
The $38 million school prepares teens for medical careers through hands-on learning using state-of-the-art equipment including dummy patients, EKG machines and anatomy charts. Students will also train outside the classroom through partnerships with local hospitals and medical facilities.
“When you have the opportunity to take your kids or students and they have a chance to put their hands on it and do it — whether they succeed or fail to use it — it gives them the opportunity to interact with it and they have a lot more knowledge than they get from a piece of paper.”
Students usually graduate with certifications set up for their healthcare careers. “Our students can go to the hospital and start working there until they understand what they want to do in their future, or they can continue to go to university and reach the work experience of these accreditations that have graduated,” said Principal Gypsy Hernandez.
The school serves a majority of Hispanic and low-income people. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, approximately 6% of US physicians have identified themselves as Hispanic. Dr. Hernandez said McClure is helping to bridge the racist gap.
“Students will not only provide services in a different language, but will also be able to culturally understand where the patients and the community are coming from so that they can help them,” Dr. Hernandez said.
Find out more about McClure Health Sciences High School in the video above. For more information about the curriculum, please see here.
