Bucks hosted a successful
healthcare career fair Nov. 9 in the
Allied Health Building room 202.
Janet Baker, the director of allied
health at Bucks, organized the
fair in hopes of enabling students
in the community to learn more
about careers in the healthcare
field.
“Today was very successful.
We had about 150 students here
today,” she said. Last week was
National Healthcare Week, and
Gov. Rendell encouraged Bucks
to educate the community on
healthcare careers.
The fair was lined with a multitude
of stands where different
healthcare organizations displayed
posters, pamphlets and even
candy in hopes of attracting students.
Although the fair was held at
Bucks’ Newtown campus, local
high schools bused students over
for a few hours to check out potential
career options and the
Bucks campus.
Baker had her own stand with
piles of information on different
healthcare majors. Some of the
healthcare majors that Baker advertised
were pharmacy technician,
EKG and phlebotomy
technician, medical coding and
billing, and medical transcription.
“Bucks will give you the more
for your money. It’s the best place
to start college, especially in the
medical field,” explained Baker.
The fair was not simply for students
pondering a career in healthcare,
however. Some
organizations were there recruiting
potential employees. Christine
Stone, R.N. and the
attending representative for
Life Quest at the fair, says
that her company is looking
for Certified Nursing Assistants.
The Life Quest facility is located
in Quakertown, and cares
for the elderly who need assistance.
“This would be a great job
for someone looking for a career
change, especially in this economy,”
said Stone.
Another attending organization
was Bayada. This organization recruits
nurses who have at least one
year of experience to go into people’s
homes and help them the
way a nurse would in a medical
facility. Typically, the home care
nurses take care of people who
have a difficult time taking care of
themselves due to illness or old
age.
Lucille Sutten, R.N. and clinical
manager for Bayada, was sent to
represent the company. “This
would be a great company for an
R.N. who wants to work more
one-on-one with patients and who
likes to move at their own pace,”
said Sutton.
Although many students think
of medical careers as being
nurses, doctors, and people who
actually treat patients, there is also
a business aspect to medicine as
well. Express Scripts had a stand
at the fair to show students about
their company,
w h i c h
doesn’t
alw
a y s
n e c e s –
sarily inv
o l v e
medical applications.
This company
deals with
sending prescription
drugs
through the mail
and also aspires
to get their customers
the best
prices possible on
those medications.
Express Scripts is
also hiring, but not
only in the medical
field. They hire for
their marketing department and
offer other opportunities in company
operation positions as well.
The Life Science Career Alliance
stand was one that students
with undecided majors might have
found very helpful. This organization
assists students and parents
in learning and exploring opportunities
in the healthcare field.
Mel Payne, project manager of
the organization, said that
they offer
students in
t h e
eleventh
a n d
twelfth grade opportunities
to understand
potential careers in
healthcare by job shadowing
and getting involved.
Linked with the organization
is the website
ExploreYourFuture.org.
This website lets students explore
all different potential career
paths even outside of the medical
field.
“The website has a variety of
videos about different careers,
personality quizzes, and a social
network area to talk to other people
in the career of your interest,”
said the creator of the site, Jess
Brock.
For those who missed the fair
this year, Baker said she hopes to
be able to hold the fair in the same
way next fall. She also recommends
that any students interested
in going into the healthcare field
choose Bucks first.