High School Health Careers Program Structure

Academic Enrichment:

English communication:

• Students will practice listening skills and enhance communication skills through public speaking and class discussions.
• Students will expand their vocabulary through assigned readings and in-class assignments.
• Mastery will be demonstrated through quizzes and writing assignments.
• Students will practice different forms of writing, including reaction and response papers, and personal reflections.
• Students will enhance their reading ability and speed with ongoing assigned readings and reading comprehension tests.

Biology:

• This course is designed to introduce students to advanced topics and skills in select areas of biomedical science, with the focus on clinical applications. The students will discover careers, discuss topics, and practice techniques related to various areas of biomedical science, including clinical medicine, research, health education, and public health/epidemiology. Students will become informed health consumers, advocating for themselves and their families.
• Students will have the opportunity to collaborate, gain hands-on experience through laboratory activities, and advance their knowledge of biomedical science. Students will discover new ways to use equipment, technology, and critical-thinking skills, and gain confidence to apply those talents in an evolving healthcare and scientific research environment.

Mathematics:

• The mathematics curriculum is focused on enhancing the readiness of program participants for the mathematics portion of the SAT.
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• Students will discuss strategies that are useful on the SAT and examine some problems that exemplify these strategies.
• Students will learn/review a topic that will be useful for the SATs as well as for general knowledge.

Health Equity Research Project:

• Participants work in small groups to research a health issue that disproportionately impacts a population group in Massachusetts, and potential solutions that could increase health equity. Students present their projects to a panel of judges comprised of program instructors and guest lecturers. The three highest-ranked groups present their projects at the closing ceremony.

Reading and cognitive abilities assessments, pre- and post-program:

• During the program, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and Cognitive Abilities Test are administered as pre-tests to establish baseline data for each participant, and are also administered at the end of the program as post-tests to assess the participants’ progress during the program.

Cultural and Contemporary Health Issues Seminars:

• In the CCHI seminars, guest lecturers discuss a range of topics relevant to the health professions, including current prominent health issues, areas of specialized medical training, and their individual careers and journeys medical and professional school.

Post-program Feedback

• Following completion of the program, participants receive detailed feedback from the program director on their performance during the program, as well as an individualized plan for continued preparation for application to health professions programs.

The 2024 program schedule can be accessed here.

Financial Support