Kids learn about health careers,
even how to operate

Twelve-year-old Joel Dubinsky of Manchester says he wants to be a surgeon when he grows up. At a health careers workshop this summer, he got a taste of what it would be like to do an operation.

Thirteen-year-old Haley Baer of South County wasn't sure what she wanted to do for a career. But, in another workshop, she found there several areas that might be interesting.

The two kids were among many who got to explore the wide variety of jobs involved in health care. The health care field is the biggest employer in the metro St. Louis area.

Each summer, BJC Health Systems sponsors career workshops for 7th and 8th graders. The weeklong meetings were located at several BJC hospitals in the St. Louis area.

Joel's workshop was at Missouri Baptist Hospital. Both of his parents, Jerry and Susan Dubinsky, work for Missouri Baptist. Mr. Dubinsky is manager of the media resources department. Mrs. Dubinsky is an operating room nurse.

The kids got to visit such departments such as radiology and "labor and delivery."

One of the highlights of Joel's health career sessions was a visit to an operating room and a chance to wield a scalpel.

He didn't operate on a real person. Actually, he did his work on a partially thawed catfish that was prepared especially for the kids. Inside the catfish were a paperclip, a car key, a safety pin, a triple-barbed fishhook and a dime.

The fish had been x-rayed and Joel could see where the items were inside the fish.

Joel said, "I was the only one who wanted to operate. The fish was a little squishy. But, I found all the items."

Joel is a 7th grader at Parkway South Middle School this year. He said his interest in his math and science classes will be useful in earning a medical doctor's degree.

He's even done some scientific experiments at home. One of them got a little out of hand.

He and his dad collected tadpoles from a stream. Joel admits all of the first batch died but they tried again. This time, they were able to film the change from tadpole to frog.

The finished film was used for a class project. But, one of the frogs escaped in their house and hasn't been found yet.

Haley Baer is an 8th grader at Assumption Catholic School. Her mother, Lynn, is a clinical nurse specialist at the BJC office in Kirkwood. Her father, Curt, is a recreation therapist.

Haley said she wasn't sure she wanted to attend the health careers workshop. But, after she completed the five days, she found several areas of career interest.

She said, "I liked the emergency room. The staff staged an emergency so we could see how the department operated."

Haley said she also liked the tour of the "sterile processing" department. That's where all sorts of instruments are sent after use to be thoroughly cleaned.

"We put on surgical gowns and caps. We saw all sorts of bloody instruments," she added.

"Some of the bigger pieces took a whole day to be cleaned. They had to go through a lot of different processes before they were ready to be used again," she said.

Haley said she was interested especially in the sessions involving nutrition and diet. She said, "I want a career that helps people. And dietitians help people stay healthy, rather than fix them after they are sick."

"I'm pretty motivated to helping people," she said.

Haley said the nutritionist gave the kids a quiz on which foods had the most calories and fat. "We had foods from McDonald's, Taco Bell and Subway. I got the order all wrong," she said.

She said she thought McDonald items would be highest in fats and calories and Subway the lowest. But, she said it made a big difference which specific menu items were measured.

Haley said she's good at math and science. And, although she's not interested in surgery, she isn't worried about dissecting things. She said she thinks she'll be operating on cow eyes and pig fetuses in science this year.

Joel and Haley said a career in health would be satisfying. Haley said, "You'd know every day that you were going to help someone feel better."

The kids at the workshops have one advantage over other kids trying to pick a career. Their parents will be able to get them chances to "shadow" health care workers and, later, even help them get summer jobs and maybe even internships.