Take two rotations and call me in the morning

New Visions get a dose of medicine

Choosing a career is a challenge for most people. Defining an educational path to achieve one's goals can be equally stressful, particularly if the career requires years of specialized training, technical school or college. Career and Tech students gain a distinct advantage by experiencing firsthand the specific qualities, opportunities and requirements of a particular profession. Such learning can take place in some unusual places.

For a few mornings in December 2006, students in the New Visions: Health Careers program explored the latest scientific approaches to infertility at Albany IVF, a medical practice on Northern Boulevard. While there, they met with staff, examined sperm slides and increased their knowledge by playing `Reproductive Jeopardy,' Albany IVF's version of the popular game show. They also learned about career options in the nation's $3 billion fertility industry.

"All of our students want to go into the health professions," said New Visions: Health Careers teacher Chuck Paravella. "While some have already expressed an interest in particular specialties, New Visions gives them a chance to see what else is out there. The more exposure they get, the better off they are, and as a new and unique rotation, Albany IVF was especially exciting.

Dorothy Negri, who teaches New Visions: Health Careers at St. Peter's Hospital, agrees. "I often hear from alumni that New Visions allows them to experience facets of health care that many students are not able to until they are in medical school."

New Visions and Colonie Central High School senior Kelley Dunnigan hasn't changed her focus from becoming a pharmacist, yet she found her Albany IVF experience quite enlightening. "You can see how pharmacy is a huge part of medicine, both there and at Ellis Hospital, where our New Visions class rotates through just about every department."

"Albany IVF was a great exposure," added Chelsey Hochmuth, a New Visions and Duanesburg senior. "We saw how doctors interact behind the scenes with each other and nurses and technicians, and also how they interact with patients."

Albany IVF physicians and staff diagnose and treat infertility through procedures such as vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and intra-uterine inseminations. The practice "jumped at the chance" to host New Visions students, said Albany IVF Clinical Manager Gwen Testo, R.N., because of their own "passion for teaching and community education. We could provide a good experience for the students and personal contacts for mentorships."

"The job market is tough, with people staying longer in the workforce," stressed Marsha Forman, Albany IVF senior embryologist and lab supervisor. "The New Visions students are gaining an advantage for college while figuring out what direction they want to follow. It's a real leg up in their education and career."

New Visions Health Careers '06-'07 students Chelsea Hochmuth (left)and Kelley Dunnigan adjust a microscope before examining sperm for motility and shape during their rotation at Albany IVF, a medical practice specializing in infertility.

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Ready for rigor

Besides arming students with knowledge to make career and college decisions, Career & Tech programs ready them for the rigors of study and the workplace. New Visions/St. Peter's and Niskayuna High School Class of 2003 alumna Tina Mehta is in her last year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and will go on to study at Albany Medical College as part of the RPI/AMC Physician-Scientist Program. "Although it has been very challenging," she reports, "I'm having the time of my life. The assignments in New Visions prepared me for lab write-ups and reading scientific papers. The study techniques and time management skills that Ms. Negri impressed upon us have helped me maintain the grade point average requirements for the medical program. A traditional senior year would not have allowed me to develop these skills nearly as well as New Visions."
 

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