By Staff Writer
Last Saturday saw 20 students from Wright and Audubon middle schools who had expressed interest in pursuing careers in the medical field, celebrate their graduation from a Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles job shadow program at the Doubletree by Hilton in Culver City.
“For students growing up in underserved communities, it can be a challenge to gain exposure to a career as a physician, nurse or other position in the medical field. That’s why Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles has been taking part in the Hippocrates Circle program for 13 years,” the organization said.
Over the past two months, students shadowed Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles physicians, and learned more about the path to becoming a physician. Students also learned about many other roles in the medical field, toured the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, and attended a Health Care Ambassador’s Day where students took part in CPR demonstrations, dissections, and received information about nutrition and exercise tips for a living a healthy lifestyle.
“We found that students from underserved communities in our area might be interested in becoming doctors but didn’t have the ability to interface with a physician or go to a medical center or school,” said Dr. Erique Emel, MD, physician champion for the Hippocrates Circle program at West LA. “We really go out to interface with those students – give them the exposure, experience and encouragement to see what it’s like to talk to and interface with a doctor. Hopefully we will inspire them to start their own journey to become physicians.”
