HOTT Newsletter

Health Occupations for Today and Tomorrow

April, 2008            

*               Greetings from South Dakota HOTT!  Spring is FINALLY upon us and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your efforts in promoting HOTT in your communities.  Your work in encouraging kids to choose health careers is appreciated more than you know.  As the school year draws to a close, it’s a great time to look forward to summer and to take this opportunity to plan for school year 2008/2009!  The South Dakota Healthcare Workforce Center has some new tools and resources for you to use as you think about working with students next year.  Read on to see what’s in store! 

*               HIPE (Health in Partnership with Education) Week was held February 4-8, 2008.  Throughout this week, a wide variety of activities were held to help promote health careers to students. Examples of activities ranged from elementary classroom instruction to a college dorm meeting to a project with Girl Scouts.  For more information on these and other ideas, click here! We would like to thank each of you who participated in HIPE Week.  We commend your ambition and creativity and we look forward to next year’s event!

*               SHOWcase (Sharing Health Occupations With Students):  Do you struggle getting your students into a healthcare facility because of HIPAA?  This online toolkit was created to provide you with some options that will allow students to obtain a realistic healthcare experience while still complying with HIPAA.  Click here to see what you can do!

*               Health Career Toolkits:  Looking for a concise, user-friendly way to teach health careers in local classrooms?  “Grab-and-go” toolkits have been developed to assist you when you’re asked to present to students.  These toolkits contain everything you need to enter the classroom:  scripts, lessons, activities and posters are all available either online or hardcopy.  Click here to see what’s included online.  Click here to request a hard copy.

*               Do you know of a high-school student who may be interested in pursing a health career?  Several South Dakota universities will be sponsoring University Health Career Camps this summer.  These camps will provide interested students with hands-on experience in a wide variety of health professions.  Click here for more information on upcoming camps.

*               The Virtual Health Career Fair, offered through Southeast Technical Institute and Sanford USD Medical Center, provides an opportunity for students to experience a wide variety of health careers.  Through DDN, high school students can access health career programming without leaving their classrooms!  The Virtual Healthcare Academy is an interactive teleconference which transmits live from Sanford to high schools throughout the state of SD.  Consistently, there have been 28 to 30 schools enrolled for each session.  The fall sessions toured Gastroenterology, in which a colonoscopy and endoscopy procedure was performed, as well as Physical Therapy/Rehab Services and the Cancer Center. The spring sessions will include docu-dramas with Trauma 5/Emergency Room services and Intensive Air with the final session touring the NICU.  If you are interested in learning how your school can participate, contact Anna Fischer or Kelly Tollefson

*               Visit the HOTT Website for lots of FREE health career-related resources and activities.  Lesson plans have been developed for all grade levels and all subject areas.  These lessons are free of charge and have all been aligned to South Dakota educational standards.  Check out an example!

*               We’re interested in hearing from YOU!  Send an email to Halley.Lee@state.sd.us and let us know what you are currently doing to promote health careers.

*               In an attempt to keep all who have expressed an interested in HOTT apprised of HOTT Happenings, we will be emailing a quarterly newsletter detailing the HOTT project and any new and exciting developments.  If you are no longer interested in receiving this information, email Halley.Lee@state.sd.us and your name will be removed from the distribution list.