Medical Pathways is a program which, in addition to teaching those students who wish to pursue medical careers the basic knowledge needed to begin their education, allows students to follow a doctor around for a day in their third year. They get hands-on experience, according to science teacher, Shannon Foster, who runs the program. This year, students in Honors Physiology went to Alvarado Hospital, Neighborhood Healthcare or Challenge Center to shadow a doctor.
   These healthcare centers were chosen because Granite Hills is a part of Regional Allied Health and Science Initiative.   
   The program was started two years ago as a “vision of some of the science teachers,” according to Assistant  Principal Mike Fowler. Those science teachers were Rick White, Boyd Stewart, Shannon Foster, and Tim Williams. Since then, students have been diving into the medical world, which has helped them to decide if they wanted to pursue a career in the medical field.
   The Medical Pathway helps students by giving them background on the medical world. Before they were allowed to job shadow, the students had to go through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act training, where they were taught the standard privacy policies used in the medical profession. As future medical professionals, the students had to learn not to snoop or look at the patients’ files without permission, which is a basic rule used for the protection of patients.
   Christal Marth (11), who was inspired to be a pediatrician, was able to experience first-hand the everyday life of someone in her chosen profession while shadowing a pediatrician at Neighborhood Healthcare.  
   Marth said that she got to interact with patients multiple times during the day. She also got to witness doctor-patient interactions, which opened her eyes to aspects of the profession she had never thought of before.
   “I learned that the doctor only diagnoses, and the nurse gives the shot,” Marth said.
    Marth also said that shadowing a pediatrician only re-affirmed her desire to become a pediatrician in the future.
   Justine Hamner (11) and Katie Ward (11) embarked on their journey into the medical world on Oct. 28, when they got the chance to shadow a doctor in one of the many medical fields of study.
   Hamner shadowed a physical therapist at the Challenge Center. The Challenge Center is a medical facility where patients who have had damage to their nervous system are rehabilitated. Hamner watched as the physical therapist talked and played games with the patient to help them move the part of their body that was damaged.  She learned about what it takes to be a physical therapist, but in the end decided it was not the job for her.
   Similarly, Ward followed an Infectious Control Specialist at Alvarado Hospital, where infections are treated and contained.
   “I think I have a better understanding of what they do behind the scenes now, and it was really interesting to see everything,” Ward said.
 She also decided that becoming an Infectious Control Specialist was not her destiny, and that this experience had spurred her to look into other medical professions.
     The Medical Pathways program helped these students to decide whether they wished to pursue a medical profession in the future. Additionally, for many students, the program is another fun way to learn science. For most, this is beneficial because students got to experience the work first hand before they started working toward their degree in college.