College and career fair highlights health-care opportunities for high school students

The UC Davis Health System will host a career day for several hundred students from Sacramento High School’s School of Math, Engineering and Science on Tuesday, May 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the special events tent near the corner of 48th Street and 2nd Avenue.

The annual event is designed to build awareness among teenagers about the wide array of health career options that are available to them. Representatives from more than a dozen leading health-care professions and local universities will be on hand to introduce students to the needs of the health-care workforce, showcasing education and career opportunities ranging from nursing and pharmacy to medical transcription and radiology.

UC Davis professionals will hightlight a number of special programs geared for young people, including internships at the Cancer Center and a fellowship in pathology that attracts young people from around the nation. The health system also has partnered with Yuba College and Sacramento City College to support the training of radiologic technicians and nurses, two health-care occupations in high demand.

"This career and college fair not only prepares students for the next stage in their lives," said Shelton Duruisseau, a senior associate director for UC Davis Health System, "but it also provides an excellent opportunity to promote existing scholarship opportunities available only at UC Davis, such the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine and the VolunTeen program. The VolunTeen program, for example, allows students to help in various units within UC Davis Medical Center serving patients, families and staff."

Located in the heart of Oak Park, not far from the medical center, Sacramento High School’s School of Math, Engineering and Science offers a comprehensive college preparatory curricula that is enhanced by a broad spectrum of electives related to the fields of science, engineering and technology. This is the third year of a five-year partnership between UC Davis Health System and the charter high school.

As part of the partnership, UC Davis has committed $500,000, plus in-kind donations and equipment, to establish a program that places students in hospital and clinic settings to work directly with physicians and staff. UC Davis School of Medicine professors frequently share their expertise in Sacramento High School classrooms, providing presentations on health topics and insights into how students can become doctors and scientists. The health system also hosts ‘medical student for a day’ tours, which feature an inside look at all the workings of the hospital, plus hands-on experiences in a high-tech medical training facility, the UC Davis Center for Virtual Care.