CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Health Science Academy has been around for over 20 years. It was opened as a school-within-a-school in August 2001. It is currently housed at Moody High School. It is open to all students in CCISD.
Hailey Humphrey is a senior at Moody High School and the hands-on experience she is receiving at the Academy of Medical Professionals is preparing her for the real world.
"Instead of just learning it from a book you could actually do what you are supposed to do and you're not just passing a test you could actually go out into the real world and do it if you need to," she said.
Belen Elizondo is a health science teacher who graduated from Moody High School herself. She said programs like this are extremely vital and allow the student to be exposed to a career in the medical field.
By the time these students graduate they will already if the medical field is a profession they wish to continue.
"This kind of helps them to kind of get a taste for it, try it out, and at no cost to them," Elizondo said. "They actually get some hands-on experience with it. Learn about it and then decided you know what I wanna do or go on and use this as kind of a steppingstone to something else that they may be interested in."
The students learn a variety of skills and opportunities to graduate with many certificates.
"With our partnership with Del Mar College we offer work-based learning opportunities for our student's certifications in EKG technician, phlebotomy technician, patient care, technician, medical assistant, and also dual credit program for emt," she said.
Students who apply are recommended to start the program during their freshmen year. Juniors and seniors who meet the criteria start their hands-on experience. And for Carlos Cuestas who is a junior, the fun has just begun.
"I am pretty excited! This year is our first year doing hands-on stuff. Sophomore and freshmen years they teach us about the history and terminology of it and our junior year is when we really go into the lab and get hands-on on and we started our EKGs and I am excited to do it with my friends and experience all that stuff with them," Cuesta said.
He added that this program has allowed him to learn different things. At first his goal was to become a nuero surgen but he said his teachers have shared with him their personal experiences which have made him change his mind.
He is hoping to now become a travel nurse and said he enjoys being a part of the program.
As for Hailey who is about to graduate this program has helped her tremendously.
"Honestly it takes a whole lot of stress off of me because I'm one of those students that I stress about every little detail so now that I have my certifications, they prepared me for the real world. I'm ready set to go," she said.
According to Moody High School's website, the Academy consists of an identified group of students who have been formally accepted through the admissions process. Each student commits to a rigorous academic experience as they look forward to careers in the medical field.
The program focuses on the following categories:
- Medical Doctor
- Nurse/Nurse Practitioner
- Pharmacist
- Dentist
- Electrocardiogram Tech (EKG)
- Emergency Medical Tech (EMT)
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Patient Care Tech (PCT)
- Phlebotomist
This learning experience is for selected students throughout the district. They have a partnership with Del Mar College, academy students participate in classroom and on-site clinical experiences in the health care field. Students have the opportunity to earn certifications in 4 of 6 areas namely: EKG, Phlebotomy, PCT, Medical Assistant, CNA and EMT before graduation.
Admission into the Health Science Academy is strictly by application and can only be admitted in the 9th grade.
Moody High School principal Enrique Vela said this year they saw an increase in the numbers of enrollment in the program. He hopes it continues to grow and impact the lives of many of the students.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
