By Lauren Nguyen, Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 13, College and Career Specialist Irene Yu hosted an information session on the healthcare industry during lunch in room 113.
A radiologic technician and a student advisor from the Orange Coast College (OCC) lead presentations on the different possible careers in the field and introduced the Health Science Career/Technical Education (CTE) programs offered by OCC’s School of Allied Health, which entail Cardiovascular Technology, Dental Assisting, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Emergency Medical Services, Medical Assisting, Neurodiagnostic, Nutrition and Dietetics,Polysomnography, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Careand Speech Language Pathology Assistant .
“[The event] really opened my eyes to how not affordable it is, but also how many different options there are and the different ways surprise me,” said junior Ava Rahgoshay.
Though each program does seem costly on paper, the student advisor explained that high schoolers can take advantage of these programs for free with the help of fee waivers, essentially qualifying for “free college.” As for class availability, high school students who sign up early will be placed on the waiting list if the program is full and will be ensured a spot the next time the program is opened up, regardless of the number of new students who apply for that season.
Students wishing to take a class should pay attention to when programs open up, as many of the programs fill up quickly and certain programs, like Neurodiagnostic Technology, only open up every two years.
The event was the first of many future Lunch & Learn sessions to inform students about various career pathways and options for higher education.
“I wanted to do the Cardiovascular Technology one because I want to become a cardiology surgeon. It gave me a good heads up about all the opportunities and about what I should be doing to prepare and plan everything,” said sophomore Yen Nguyen.
