ATLANTA — ATLANTA – The newest Gwinnett County high school is educating students in hopes of filling voids in the medical community.
Kali Lotankar is a sophomore at McClure Health Science High School, where she hopes to prepare herself for a career as a Physician Assistant.
“When you graduate from McClure you have many job opportunities in the medical field that you can do, and that’s amazing,” says Lotankar. “If I was at a normal high school, I wouldn’t really know the medical field and the atmosphere around it.
Prior to the start of school, 11Alive’s Why Guy Jerry Carnes got a tour of the newest and perhaps most unique opportunity for Gwinnett County students. McClure offers an introduction to a wide variety of jobs in the medical field.
Among the instructors is Meridith Watts, who is also a nurse at Gwinnett Medical Center.
“There’s really no other model in the nation for this,” says Watts. “There’s so many needs in the community for health providers and it doesn’t just go into nursing.”
Georgia has a nursing shortage. There’s a need for Patient Care Technicians and Certified Nurse Assistants. McClure has molded its curriculum around those needs.
There is theater, language arts, math, and everything else you expect to find at a high school. At McClure, it’s all taught from a health science perspective.
“You can do a math problem through the health science lens,” says Principal Nichole Mosley. “You can measure IV drips. So they get the same curriculum through the health science lens.”
650 students currently walk the halls of a building designed to have the feel of a hospital.
Students will study the issues that impact the medical world.
“There’s 100 different ways you can go,” says Watts. “You don’t even have to stay within a hospital.
ATLANTA – The newest Gwinnett County high school is educating students in hopes of filling voids in the medical community.
Kali Lotankar is a sophomore at McClure Health Science High School, where she hopes to prepare herself for a career as a Physician Assistant.
“When you graduate from McClure you have many job opportunities in the medical field that you can do, and that’s amazing,” says Lotankar. “If I was at a normal high school, I wouldn’t really know the medical field and the atmosphere around it.
Prior to the start of school, 11Alive’s Why Guy Jerry Carnes got a tour of the newest and perhaps most unique opportunity for Gwinnett County students. McClure offers an introduction to a wide variety of jobs in the medical field.
Among the instructors is Meridith Watts, who is also a nurse at Gwinnett Medical Center.
“There’s really no other model in the nation for this,” says Watts. “There’s so many needs in the community for health providers and it doesn’t just go into nursing.”
Georgia has a nursing shortage. There’s a need for Patient Care Technicians and Certified Nurse Assistants. McClure has molded its curriculum around those needs.
There is theater, language arts, math, and everything else you expect to find at a high school. At McClure, it’s all taught from a health science perspective.
“You can do a math problem through the health science lens,” says Principal Nichole Mosley. “You can measure IV drips. So they get the same curriculum through the health science lens.”
650 students currently walk the halls of a building designed to have the feel of a hospital.
Students will study the issues that impact the medical world.
“There’s 100 different ways you can go,” says Watts. “You don’t even have to stay within a hospital.