Students Get Firsthand Look at Hospital Jobs

Sixty elementary school students shut their books Thursday and headed for Granada Hills Community Hospital for a close-up look at the medical profession. The students from Telfair Avenue Elementary School, third- through fifth-graders, are part of a summer premed course offered by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“You never know how these experiences will change people’s lives,” said Consuelo Garcia, Telfair’s principal.

Hospital officials were happy to offer a tour, said Mary Schaubert, a spokeswoman.

“We are a community-based hospital,” she said.

“It’s part of our mission to be involved with the community.”

Garcia said she approached the hospital to show the children what kinds of jobs are available in the medical world.

For two hours Thursday, they roamed through the facilities--examining equipment, listening to presentations and watching doctors, nurses and physical therapists.

In the X-ray room, the children saw images of broken bones. In the emergency room, they studied a heart monitor.

In addition, the children visited human resources to learn how to fill out a work application. Then, in the cafeteria they learned about nutrition.

In all, the hospital has 114 different jobs--not all requiring medical degrees, officials said.

“Those were real professionals they saw,” Garcia said. “They saw why you have to learn and how it fits in the real world.”