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Edwin Chavez, a seventh-grader from Bryan Middle School, said he wants to be a doctor some day to help people feel better. |
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Wendy Garzon, outreach coordinator with the Latino Center of the Midlands, second from right, joins Bryan Middle School students Leticia Lopez, left, Nancy Martinez, second from left, and Marlenne Garcia in looking at an X-ray. |
Leticia Lopez wants to be a registered nurse.
Aimee Ramos wants to be a pediatrician.
All of these students represent the future of medicine, even thought it will probably be another nine years before any of the seventh- and eighth-graders set foot in medical school.
Chavez, Lopez and Ramos were among 39 middle school students from Marrs Magnet Center and Bryan Middle School who attended a career workshop at UNMC on Dec. 4.
The field trip was arranged by the Latino Center of the Midlands (formerly known as the Chicano Awareness Center), and is part of an ongoing effort to recruit underrepresented minorities into health professions.
The students spent the day learning how pharmacists compound medicines, what a forensic nurse does at a crime scene and how dentists evaluate patients for oral cancer.
“The Latino Center of the Midlands has been working with Latino Youth since 1974, our goal is to create pathways to higher education. It has been observed that the more exposure young people have to higher education the more likely they are to seek it,” said Wendy Garzon, outreach coordinator in education and student support services for the Latino Center of the Midlands. “The students had a wonderful trip to UNMC and it is our hope that they will continue to look into medical careers as they advance their education in high school.”