‘Their little eyes were lighting up’: Service High School biomedical students visit JBER Hospital

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Students with Service High School’s Biomedical Career Academy (BCA) recently had the opportunity to explore different career paths during a visit to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Hospital and get a closer look at what happens behind its doors.

“Most places in the civilian world are off limits,” said BCA Program Lead Kaitlyn Williamson. “They gave us a tour, they put together different careers and different levels of career, and our students got to see an amazing array of what exists in a hospital.”

Williamson said it was a chance for students to see the skills they have covered in class be put to use in a clinical setting.

“What they’ve learned about the heart, now they’re hearing from the nurse about the EKGs, or what they’ve done with blood pressure, they get to see it on a sonography,” she explained. “Every station we went to, the vocabulary terms that the career was discussing, the students, their little eyes were lighting up.”

BCA Senior Emmalyn Fischer said she didn’t realize how many careers were available in a hospital setting.

“[My] biggest takeaway is knowing that there are so many people that are able to support you on your pathway,” she explained. “There’s so many different paths you can take.”

The BCA at Service High School supports around 175 students, according to Williams, and is a lottery-based program.

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