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Memorial Hermann guides high schoolers to the ‘truth’ of their healthcare careers

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As Memorial Hermann and Aldine Independent School District’s HEAL high school prepares for its second year of operations, program leaders are surveying the transformation of its inaugural freshman class of students as they “step into the truth” of their career paths.  

The Health Education and Learning high school currently operates on the campus of Nimitz High School. It’s one of 13 health system and school district partnerships backed by $31 million in funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The program weaves healthcare education into a standard high school curriculum, with students spending part of their week on-site at Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital in Humble, Texas. Each student chooses one of five healthcare pathways — nursing, pharmacy, physical and occupational therapy, medical imaging or nonclinical administration — and works toward earning an industry-recognized certification by graduation. 

The first class of freshmen started with 152 students and graduated 145. Now those freshmen are moving into their sophomore year of the program, with about 20 new students joining the sophomore cohort. The incoming class of freshman has 190 slots available, and has received over 250 applications, Adrian Bustillos, PhD, chief transformation officer at Aldine ISD, told Becker’s.

The program is supported by 32 teachers that teach the core content, as well as electives like fine arts and sports. Six Memorial Hermann staff members are also regular faces in the classroom, helping students connect their education to real-world application.

The HEAL high school is gearing up to enter its second year, and aims to enroll nearly 800 students by 2028.

“This program is giving us a platform to challenge the status quo,” Caitlin McVey, associate vice president of the Institute for Nursing Excellence at Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System, told Becker’s.

Aldine ISD is the 12th largest in Texas, serving around 57,000 students. About 92% of their students are economically disadvantaged. 

“We’re in a healthcare desert — many families have to leave our boundaries just to access basic health services,” Dr. Bustillos said. “With this partnership, we’re creating pathways to high-wage, in-demand healthcare careers. Students are learning about healthcare, the points of health in a community and seeing real-world applications. Just as importantly, our students will grow into healthcare professionals who look like and understand the communities they serve.”

Becker’s sat down with HEAL high school leaders to learn how the first year went and what changes are coming as the program expands.

The first-year results

Seeing 14-year-olds walking the halls of Memorial Hermann has become a new normal, and the transformation has been incredible, leaders said.

“Seeing them start as 14-year-olds and return as 10th graders, they’re completely transformed,” Bryan Sisk, DNP, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at Memorial Hermann, told Becker’s. “Yes, academics are essential, and we’re not lowering the bar, they’re rising to meet it. But their self-confidence, the mentorship they’re receiving, how they present themselves — it’s all evolving.”

Simple things like eye contact, introducing themselves and greeting people in the hallways are just a few ways students have grown. 

And for some students, this program is more than confidence building. At the beginning of the year, the program held a scrub ceremony where students received their first pair of work scrubs.

“After the scrub ceremony, students visited our Institute for Nursing Excellence, our simulated hospital,” Mr. Sisk said. “When we asked one student what it felt like to walk into the hospital wearing scrubs, she said, ‘I feel like I walked into my truth.’ That stopped me. A year ago, she hadn’t even considered healthcare as a career. Now, it’s not just a possibility — it’s her reality. And she can picture herself in that role.”

Students aren’t just picturing themselves as healthcare professionals, they’re learning the trade from day one. In English, they write about hip replacements. In math, they calculated dosages. On their weekly visit to the hospital, they learn why their education matters and what the real-world implications are. They’re also learning many healthcare processes like HIPAA modules, onboarding steps, vaccine requirements and more. 

Some students are also emerging as leaders. 

“The momentum is so strong that the students actually asked to start a HEAL ambassador program,” Ms. McVey said. “These ambassadors now go into middle schools and talk about the program: what it’s done for them, how yes, it’s hard, but how worth it it is. We’re seeing leadership emerge within the student body.”

But like any new initiative, there were some lessons learned from the first year of operations.

Lessons learned

Mr. Sisk and Ms. McVey pointed to two main lessons learned from the first class of students:

1. The value of embedding dedicated healthcare staff into the high school. The program started with six staff members including nurses, physical therapy, imaging, business and pharmacy professionals.

“They are truly driving this program,” Mr. Sisk said. “When you walk into the school, the students know them. They help shape the experience alongside our education partners. They’re not just guest speakers, they’re a part of the school. That’s been one of the biggest lessons learned: if you want a program like this to succeed, you need a consistent, engaged presence from the healthcare side.”

These team members are essential to connecting curriculum to hospital-based learning and reinforcing what students learn in the classroom, Ms. McVey said.

2. Learning how to interact with teachers, students and parents. “I didn’t even realize how much we’d need to learn until we were in it — how to interact with teachers, how to engage with students,” Mr. Sisk said. “It’s so different from our daily work, but it’s helped me grow both personally and professionally. I think our whole organization has grown from it.”

What’s coming next

Currently, the school is working on a state-of-the-art simulation lab that is an exact replica of Memorial Hermann, so students can practice with the same equipment they see in the hospital.  The organizations are also expanding its mentorship program that pairs students with nurses, physicians, therapists and even healthcare executives.

“We have more mentors than we can match students with. There’s a waitlist for Memorial Hermann employees wanting to participate,” Dr. Bustillos said.

As far as long-term goals, the school district and health system are working on improving postsecondary partnerships so that their pathways connect with a dual-credit opportunity or an industry-based certification. 

This includes finding a way to have 14-year-olds earn college credits while completing high school. 

We hit barriers,” Mr. Sisk said. “Some [postsecondary] schools said, ‘Well, they’re 14, they can’t get credit,’ simply because no one had asked the question before. But by asking the right questions, and asking them in smart ways, we’ve been able to remove some of those barriers. Our partners have been great about working with us to meet accreditation standards and our internal requirements, especially since students will be moving into patient care settings. So just thinking differently, questioning norms — it’s made a huge difference.” 

The program is also expanding to meet growing demand and provide students with unique experiences every step of the way. 

“We want to make sure 10th graders have new, elevated experiences, not just repeats of what they did in ninth grade,” Ms. McVey said. “That means expanding opportunities.”

This includes adding Houston-based Memorial Hermann Greater Heights as a partnering hospital, as well as providing more advanced opportunities for medical training during summer infusion.

The first dual-cohort Summer Infusion wrapped up in June. There, rising freshmen had the opportunity to go through lab sessions and Life Flight experiences, and sophomores participated in a mock mass casualty drill with community partners. We’re adapting constantly, and honestly, that adaptability might be one of the program’s biggest strengths,Mr. Sisk said.

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