Rather than reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, students taking Health Science spend their typical class period in various health care facilities watching surgeries and wearing scrubs.

“The purpose of the class is for the students to learn nursing skills,” Health Science teacher Amy Tokarz said. “They usually deal with patients that require dependent care, meaning you’ll help them with bathing, dressing, walking, eating, shaving, and any of those activities of daily living. They learn those skills, and then they participate in rotations in hospitals and community health care facilities.”

In order to take this class, students must first complete a prerequisite– Principles of Health Science– which teaches students the basics they will need to know for the actual course.

“CNA is like the next step up from Principles of Health Science, and you get to gain a lot of experience in professional settings,” junior Glennon Carevic said. “We’ve gone to rotations in orthodontists’ offices, dermatologists’ offices, physical therapists’ offices, pediatrics’ offices, labor and delivery, and other occupations of that type.”

By working in a professional environment, students are able to explore their career interests as they pertain to the medical field.

“It’s a great way to find out what you like and don’t like and what you actually want to do in the medical field,” Carevic said. “My favorite thing about CNA is that we have so much freedom and independence. Our teacher, Mrs. Tokarz, gives us a lot of responsibility, and I love that she treats us like adults.”

Tokarz is trying to teach more than responsibility as her main goal is to prepare students to take an exam to become a CNA (Certified Nurse Aide).

“In the spring, they do rotations at a nursing home to learn long-term care,” Tokarz said. “After they’ve completed X number of hours in the nursing home, they take a Nurse Aide Certification Exam and they can receive a certification that would allow them to work as a Nurse Aide or what we call a Patient Care Tech.”

The practical experience offered by the class is something students like.

“I love CNA because it offers a hands-on experience that almost no other class on campus offers,” junior Georgia Wheat said. “There is a certain sense of professionalism that you get from working in a real health care facility, and that’s exciting. Taking Health Science has made me sure that I am going to do something in the medical field when I’m older.”