UNMC’s “Backstage Pass,” which offers high school and college students a free, behind-the-scenes look at various health professions, is back with its biggest event ever, Wednesday, Nov. 5, on the medical center’s Omaha campus.
This year, the UNMC College of Pharmacy is participating for the first time, joining the UNMC College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, along with uBEATS and Nebraska Medicine Office of Talent Acquisition.
Check-in is at 9 a.m., and events commence at 10 a.m., with a crowd of 250 to 300 participants expected at the Truhlsen Events Center in the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education. While students take part in the interactive, hands-on activities, they often are accompanied by teachers, advisors, counselors and parents exploring potential health professions career paths and their respective UNMC education programs.
“At Backstage Pass, participants get to roll up their sleeves, touch things and really see what these professionals do for patients,” said Maggie Winnicki, senior director of enrollment management and student affairs in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions. “That’s when you see the spark, that moment of, ‘Wow, this is really cool; this could be me.’
“That’s the exciting part, because you’ve helped set them on a path to explore their future.”
Registration filled in just over three hours, Winnicki said.
The event was founded by the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions in 2010 to showcase its diverse career opportunities and help grow Nebraska’s health care workforce.
The event has grown so much in the ensuing 15 years it now is held twice a year, alternating in location between Kearney and Omaha. The next event is already set for April 8 in Kearney.
Click here for more information on the event and videos from previous Omaha and Kearney Backstage Pass sessions.
Lexi Heaton, a physician assistant in Bellevue, attended Backstage Pass in 2017. She said the experience inspired her to enroll at UNMC and become a practicing PA.
“That’s what kind of made me want to go here as a PA student,” she said, “and now I’m a certified PA.”