(Chatham) — Pittsylvania County school leaders want to set up a school-to-career pipeline for health care professionals, similar to the one they have for Advanced Manufacturing.
Pittsylvania County School Superintendent Doctor Mark Jones tells the county School Board the Southern Virginia Partnership for Health Science Careers would be based on a model being used in Roanoke. “A lot of different agencies have met and talked about setting up a health sciences pathway in schools,” Jones said. “We’ll start by inventorying what we have, then develop a pathway from elementary school, through middle school and high school, and ending in our local community or four-year colleges.”
Under the plan, students from grades K-through-5 would be exposed to health care careers through an innovative children’s book. “It tells the story of a student that is injured at school and follows them,” Jones says. “EMS arrives, they’re transported, they go into intake, they see the receptionist, they meet with the nurse and the doctor, and they learn about the different careers.”
At the middle school level, students will use career connection labs to explore more possibilities. “Through hands-on machinery we will expose them to the different fields. They’ll use stethoscopes, microscopes and talk about the different careers available in health care.” Jones said.
Once in high school, students will drill down even deeper. “Ninth-graders will take Intro to Health Sciences and Environmental Sciences. They’ll also take medical terminology biology,” Jones said.
In their last two years of high school, students would begin focusing on specific career paths. “They will explore careers as EMTs, doctors, nurses, medical coding, physical therapy and more. By the 11th grade students can decide to attend the CTCC and take night courses. They could take EMT courses. Or they could opt for the Governor’s School,” Jones said. “They could also stay at their base high school and take dual enrollment and advanced placement courses there.”
The goal is to have those courses in place by the 2026-2027 school year. Jones says they also hope to secure state funding to help pay for the effort.
