The Ballston Spa Central School District announced a formal partnership with Albany Medical Center that focused on career exploration.
The collaboration between a school district and a health care organization will enhance and expand the district’s biomedical sciences program, according to district officials. Students in the program will investigate and explore careers in health care through various experiences with professionals representing the many occupations in this fast-growing field as well as through exposure to different health care facilities.
Dr. Joseph P. Dragone, superintendent of schools for the district, said the partnership with Albany Medical Center and the opportunities for students are “invaluable to the district as it addresses the emerging medical occupations and technologies, and prepares students for college and careers.”
Through the newly created Albany Medical Center Health Discovery Program, middle school and high school students will have the opportunity to meet health care professionals and medical students from Albany Medical Center through enrichment programming, beginning in the fall of 2013.
Students from the high school program will visit Albany Medical Center for panel discussions with medical professionals, to meet with medical students and also tour the facilities. The middle school students will attend a daylong program focusing on careers in health care and related information provided by Albany Medical Center.
“As the region’s only academic health sciences center, Albany Medical Center understands what a valuable resource we are to the region and the responsibility we have to share our expertise with the communities we serve,” said James J. Barba, president and CEO of Albany Medical Center.
“We also believe in the power of collaboration and are pleased to partner with Ballston Spa Central School District as together we create meaningful opportunities for students to explore one of the most promising fields for careers of tomorrow and to start charting their future today,” he said.
The Biomedical Sciences Program at Ballston Spa High School is a sequence of courses that provides a hands-on, real-world problem solving approach to learning. Students explore the concepts of human medicine as well as the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Students work collaboratively to investigate and design innovative solutions for health challenges of the 21st century.
The sequence of courses is designed for students interested in pursuing a career in biological sciences, emergency services, health care or medicine, school officials said. Currently, over 125 students are enrolled in the challenging courses including Principles of Biomedical Sciences, Human Body Systems, and Medical Interventions.
The partnership with Albany Medical Center was developed through the school district’s Partnership for Innovation in Education program. It creates innovative educational experiences that help reshape teaching and learning in the district schools so that Ballston Spa students have the potential to learn from brilliant scientists, world-renowned artists and musicians, committed civic leaders and leading companies to support research and development in the K-12 classrooms, school officials said.
For more information, please visit www.bscsd.org or contact Courtney Lamport, coordinator of development, at 884-7195 ext. 1369 or via e-mail at clamport@bscsd.org.