11 Dec How UniSA Health Clinic is getting teenagers interested in healthcare!
On the 6th of December the UniSA Health Clinic held their final Careers Day for 2024, where year nine students from high schools located in the northern suburbs were invited to tour the Elizabeth clinic and learn about careers in allied health.
This day is organised by the Northern Adelaide Health + Wellbeing Partnership (NAWHP) – a partnership of numerous organisations including ACH Group, UniSA, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN), the Department of Education and many more, who all strive to improve health and wellbeing outcomes in the Northern Adelaide region.
The Careers Day is a fast-paced, fun event that aims to educate students about the variety of healthcare fields and inspire them to peruse careers in healthcare. In small groups the students visited a series of stations in Elizabeth South, each representing an area of healthcare, across at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, ACH group and the UniSA Health Clinic.
Our clinic hosted stations demonstrating occupational therapy, paediatric physiotherapy, speech pathology, midwifery, and podiatry. Thanks to SA Ambulance Service (SAAS), students also had the opportunity to tour an ambulance and learn about careers in paramedicine.
In the Life Skills Kitchen, the occupational therapy team set up a series of hands-on activities with equipment that occupational therapists use to make clients’ lives easier. The students got to try peeling potatoes with one hand while using an assistive preparation board, write their name in shaving foam, and pick up beads with giant tweezers. They were shown assistive technology, like a kettle tipper and sock aid, and asked to guess what they thought the devices were used for.
With the speech pathologist the students got to try augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices to generate speech. To use these devices the students had to recognise patterns so that they could build sentences. For example, they were asked to find the word “cheese” which they found in the “eat” category marked by a picture of an apple. The students were then given a chance to try using the device hands-free, using their eyes to make selections on the tablet.
At the midwifery station the students were shown how to perform an abdominal palpation and practiced feeling and locating a baby inside of a dummy. During the mock examinations the students were instructed on how to talk and comfort a client and to always ask consent before touching them. Then they were shown how to change, dress, and hold babies and practiced the skills on dolls.
At the podiatry station the students were given a presentation to learn about what being a podiatrist involves and how they help clients. For some hands-on fun the students got to try creating toe separators using silicone moulding putty on model feet.
The paediatric physiotherapist showed the students the Magic Carpet, an interactive projection system that encourages movement by creating a video game on the floor. The students got to jump, touch, and throw bean bags to pop bubbles, move leaves and break asteroids. They were taught about how physiotherapists encourage children to move their bodies and build strength.
Outside, paramedics gave students a tour of an ambulance and demonstrated how to use the stretcher. The students had an opportunity to ask questions and learn what it’s like to be a paramedic.
Between stations, the students were shown the health clinic’s humanoid robot named Pepper.
They were shown how Pepper can talk, stretch, give speech pathology lessons and even dance. Pepper was shown off by two of UniSA’s Information Technology (IT) students who helped to program her.
UniSA Health Clinic hopes the Careers Day was an enriching experience for students. It was inspiring to see them engaging with our academics and learning about the many careers in allied health. We are excited to run more events next year and hope to see some of these high school students studying with us in the future.
To learn more about UniSA Health Clinic and our mission visit the About Us page of our website.
Credit: Jessie Seidel
Posted 11th December 2024.
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