Single-day expo designed to provide middle school students with education and hands-on training in health care professions

The Northeast Ohio Medical University-Cleveland State University Partnership for Urban Health is offering a free health care expo that pairs local middle school students with physicians, surgeons, dentists, pharmacists and other health care professionals. The Middle School Health Professions Expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 6, at CSU’s Wolstein Center.

The one-day educational experience includes hands-on activities such as learning CPR, suturing techniques, splinting, orthopedics procedures and how to check vital signs. Students will interact with health care professionals from many disciplines to gain insight on their roles and responsibilities, how they launched their careers and the rewards of working in the health care field. Students will rotate through several hands-on stations including walking through a 15-foot high MEGA-lung display to see how the environment affects our health from the inside out. 

“One of the goals of the Partnership for Urban Health is to enhance the number of individuals going into the medical field, particularly from underserved communities,” adds Dr. Edgar B. Jackson, Jr., special assistant to the president for health affairs at CSU and co-director of the Partnership. “This effort is one of many initiatives we have undertaken to increase knowledge and interest in health care for students of all ages.”

“This program was developed to allow students to not only receive hands-on experience, but to spend time with medical professionals and get an inside look at a potential career path,” said Sonja Harris-Haywood, M.D., co-director of the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health. “This is an outstanding opportunity for Cleveland-area youth to closely examine the health professions at a time when they are beginning to explore all the possibilities in their futures.”

The Middle School Health Professions Expo is open to students currently in grades six through eight. There is no charge to attend, and breakfast and lunch will be provided. Parents are also welcome to attend the expo along with their child. Shuttle services to and from the Expo will be available at Harvey Rice Elementary School and Michael R. White Elementary School in Cleveland before and after the event. Parking vouchers will also be available.

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The expo is made possible through the support of the Cleveland Medical Association and the Cleveland Foundation.

Registration for the Expo is currently open and available at surveymonkey.com/r/HealthCareExpo2017. For more information, please contact Jonathan Tyes at 216.802.3175 or at jtyes@neomed.edu.