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Career partnership with St. Joseph’s/Candler brings real-world training to Richmond Hill High School students
sjcphotowhitten2023
St. Joseph's/Candler CEO Paul Hinchey with Richmond Hill High School students at the Aug. 25, 2023 announcement. The hospital has since partnered with Bryan County Schools on advanced health care courses as part of a program to provide students the opportunity to explore the field and also provide a pipeline of health care workers into the field in the future. (Photo by Jeff Whitten).

Back in 2023, Bryan County Schools announced a healthcare career partnership with St. Joseph’s/Candler, aiming to give local high school students the chance to combine academics with clinical training.

“We want to marry academics with clinical training, and we want to marry what goes on in the classroom with hands-on experience for the student,” said St. Joseph’s/Candler President CEO Paul Hinchey, adding that the program is aimed at providing “a pipeline for the next generation of health care workers in Georgia.”

Since then, interest in the program has more than doubled, with more than 100 students having taken part at Richmond Hill High School. And the school’s new campus, which opened last fall, boasts a 2,000 sq. ft. health sciences lab that aids students wanting hands-on experience in the medical field.

In the program, students get the chance to shadow healthcare professionals in over 15 departments across both clinical and non-clinical roles, as well as partake in simulation labs in class for hands-on learning.

“I’ve always had a love for healthcare, and being in this class has allowed me to go into the hospital and explore different roles, and get an unglorified view of what [working in] healthcare actually is like,” said Miriam Burger-Lisby, a junior at Richmond Hill High School.

Hope Brooks, a CTAE teacher at Richmond Hill High School, says that the program helps students learn important career skills early on before they graduate.

“We encourage our students to really be a sponge,” said Brooks. “Ask all the questions, engage with the professionals, and as much as they put into it [the program] is exactly what they are going to gain.”

Sarah Hanson with St. Joseph’s/Candler Be Health program at Heartwood agrees that this partnership is a very unique experience for aspiring medical professionals.

“It’s an incredible opportunity, especially if you’re going to go into this field [in the future], to get that hands-on experience,” said Hanson.

St. Joseph’s/Candler has also partnered with other schools such as Beach High School and Woodville-Tompkins High School in Savannah, as well as Savannah Tech. According to a press release, St. Joseph’s/Candler has students training to be "Patient Care Technicians (PCT), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses and Doctors", and more.