Union High School students help younger students get involved in healthcare
Fri, August 21, 2026 at 7:33 AM
UpdatedFri, August 21, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Union High School students help younger students get involved in healthcare
TULSA, Okla. — Union High School students are helping younger kids get an early look at careers in healthcare
The students packed kits with donated medical supplies that younger students will use to learn about medicine and healthcare. The process is part of the Youth Medical Mentorship Program.” Organizers say it’s designed to introduce kids to potential career paths as early as elementary school
“Today is about health literacy and being able to provide access and opportunity,” said Dr. Christopher McNeil, Executive Director of Youth Medical Mentorship, Union Public Schools board member. “What we have is three or four different businesses that have contributed medical equipment and this medical equipment is being used to teach health literacy to students.”
Dr. McNeil says the students and providers were working hand-in-hand creating games that made medicine and health care accessible and what happens in the day in the life of the human body
“It’s a really powerful experience for the students to be able to sit and talk to providers and actually come up with games that are going to impact their younger brother and sisters, classmates, and their parents and community.” said Dr. McNeil
Dr. McNeil says it is important to start the conversation about health with people early in life because it impacts everybody. He said people become better stewards of reo career to community model.” One game the students took part in was called “Is it a prescription or is it a Pokemon?” It helped students recognize medicine they could see in their cabinets and understand what it does to the body
Union Public Schools says the goal of the program is to help fill positions that are needed in the local healthcare industry
Jocelyn Canales, a student officer and Junior Vice President of Tulsa Tech Biomedical Science Program at Union said she wished she had a program such as this when she was younger
“I would have loved to have so many programs like these when I was younger because it’s allowing us to actually [ask] ‘do I like the medical field? How can I start in it?’ As they’re growing it’s already set in their minds so they already know what they are going up for.” she said
Canales said they used donation of medical supplies to teach elementary students. It allows them to play games so they can start learning the importance of them. There were stations were they could scan prescriptions and add them to kits. She says that when the process gets turned into a game, the students become more involved in the process. Canales says being in the class has let her be in the shoes of professionals
“I’ve grown so much in the medical field.” she said
