ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Students in the medical assisting class at Anderson County Career Technical Center are getting hands-on experience with brand-new equipment.
The class recently was awarded $50,000 by the state to help pay for items in the program. Some of the items purchased are medical mannequins of different age ranges, and medical needs to help teach the students how to work with different patients.
The mannequins range from infants to elderly people, teaching students how to take vitals, provide CPR and give basic medical attention. One mannequin is meant to be a bariatric patient, to help students learn to work with larger individuals. The class also has glasses to represent visual impairments, as well as headphones to simulate what patients with dementia may hear.
Cassie DeJarnette teaches the course, and she said it all helps prepare students for working in the real world.
"Medical assisting which is this class gives them the opportunity to apply all those skills with hands-on in our classroom but also out in the field," she said.
The class also helps facilitate internships at local clinics to help students see what physicians do on a day-to-day basis.
"They also get to be with some of the physicians as well, to see exactly what it looks like when a doctor is doing an intake with a patient, when they're prescribing a medication, when they're giving them education," said DeJarnette.
The class is part of Career Technical Education or CTE. This education pathway allows the students to get college credit while they're still in high school. Many are also able to get certifications while still in school. For the medical assistance class, students are able to get CPR and MA certified. These courses are aimed at helping both the students get jobs and address the community's needs.
"We take a real strong look at what is our local needs, and how can we best equip students to go serve in that capacity," said David Wood, the center's assistant principal.
The pathway for the medical assistant program is open to, freshmen but the hands-on course is only available to juniors and seniors.