Beach High students get real-life experience in the school's Health Screening Clinic

Dr. Tijuana Milton: In our phlebotomy program, our students get real hands on experience of patient care.

Dr. Martha White: They do the front desk and they also do the different jobs in the back. And we're trying to teach them the professionalism.

Miniah Mikell: Going to school. You learn in on the books and stuff, but you don't really get to do a lot of hand work. So at the clinic, I knew I'll be able to be in the field and actually see with my own eyes.

Angel Chisholm: I wanted to do it as soon as I heard about it.

Ken Slats: Like Angel Chisholm, many students are drawn to Beach High's medical program.

Milton: So the best part about this is they truly get to determine the idea of being in the health care profession. And it's just awesome to determine that at the high school level.

Miniah Mikell: It's a clinic, so we do the same jobs that everyone else does. We have our receptionist or our front desk people, and so we take turns doing the job. So like today I was doing height, weight and blood, but tomorrow I'll be sticking people. 

Miyah Mitchell: I learned how to draw blood. Better communication skills. So we have to talk to them.

Angel Chisholm: Talking to your patients to, like, ease their nerves. And yours, for us being first timers. And also, it's a trick that I learned with taking blood for where, like, the vein is like a roll and your needle is the car. So if it's a straight roll, you're not going to make your car turn. You're going to keep the needle forward and go straight.

Slats: So this straight path is provided through an SCC partnership with Saint Joseph's Candler. Not only a clinic open to students, but anyone.

White: So we're screening the public to try to check for the major things that cause health care problems, which we're checking for cholesterol, we're screening for diabetes, and we're screening for high blood pressure.

Milton: After they complete the 30 blood draws and the ten finger sticks. They actually sit for certification testing. So the students can actually walk out of this high school as certified phlebotomist.

Angel Chisholm: It just feels like we're one big family. They want to see us succeed.

White: And I actually am working with somebody in the hospital now who was one of my students a few years ago. And so that's really encouraging.

Slats: It's an encouraging program all around. Just another example of one of Savannah Chatham specialties preparing students for their future for SCC. I'm Ken Slats.