Getting a job at UF Health through a regular job portal can sometimes take months, but Eastside High School students have a special opportunity through their school’s medical skills program. Within weeks of graduation, they could be working behind the scenes at a UF Health facility.
“No matter what field, what you might like to do, there’s avenues and positions out there that you can take,” Lamonica Davis, the program coordinator, said in a phone interview.
The program prepares the students for entry-level jobs straight out of high school, but Davis said it is also tailored to UF. From there, the university encourages students to continue their education, providing things like scholarships, tuition reimbursements and opportunities to take Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) courses for free.
In their first year, Davis’s students learn about the different types of medical fields they could get into, including patient transport, sterile processing, admission, tech and graphic design.
Second-year students learn the basics of the human body, anatomy and physiology.
In their third year, they begin learning soft skills such as resumes, presenting skills and communicating diagnoses. Some junior students also earn a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant certification.
During their senior year, students have the opportunity to intern at UF Health. The university opens a job portal specific to Davis’s students, and those internships can lead to jobs straight out of high school.
“They’re actually kind of on an impromptu type of interview process,” Davis said. “They get to actually see how the kids work and what their ethics are, job ethics and all.”
Amaya Monroe graduated EHS in May and almost immediately began work as a tech at the UF Shands Sterile Processing Center, a job which she said resulted from her internship. She cleans, sterilizes and processes reusable medical equipment such as surgical instruments and carts for the hospital.
Though she enjoys several aspects of her job, Monroe said the sterilizing station is her favorite, because the quiet focus is relaxing.
“I love [my job],” Monroe said in a phone interview. “It’s just like a stepping stone to where I want to go later.”
Monroe is currently working to get certified in her job as a tech. Once she has her certification, she wants to build up to instrument coordinator, then become a surgical or scrub technician.
Monroe grew up enjoying medical TV shows, watching her mother go to work at medical-related jobs, and hearing health industry stories from her grandparents.
Monroe said the field runs in her family, but a job as a surgical tech is not necessarily her end goal. She is still young, and she said her career options are still flexible. She is going through stenography school while she works at Shands.
Davis said the Eastside program’s ability to give students access to a job even if they don’t stay in the medical field is one of the program’s many advantages. Yet running such a successful, well-connected program does not come easily.
Sometimes, the program gets other outside help. Some people donate equipment for the students, others volunteer their time to be guest speakers. Catalyst for Change provided an opportunity for students to take CPR, and Santa Fe College held open three spots for Davis’s students in sterile processing. Both UF and Santa Fe have given students tours of their facilities and told them about the opportunities their programs provide.
“We had such an amazing teacher,” Monroe said. “And we had many people, like nurses, that came and talked to us. It’s like we learned constantly. We had many opportunities to start off and go.”
In order to run Eastside’s medical skills program, an instructor must have a background in the medical field, which Davis said makes it a difficult position to fill. Health jobs tend to be much better paid than teaching jobs, and Davis herself took a significant pay cut when she left occupational therapy 25 years ago to teach at Eastside.
Davis said she originally made the switch because, as a single parent, she wanted to spend more time with her children. Now her children are grown, but Davis is still at Eastside, teaching because she knows if she left, it would be difficult to find a replacement and the students would likely lose the opportunity.
Though the medical field is well-paying, Davis said it is also demanding, and she has to explain that to students to help prepare them. One of the reasons the field pays well is because it is crucial.
“You’re going to have to be there, you’re going to have to do that job,” Davis said. “Because if you’re not there to do it, that person can get seriously injured or could even die. So you have to be there, and accessible, and available, and show up when you’re supposed to.”