Medical assisting program for high school one of the first of its kind

It might seem counterintuitive.

Online schools are often thought about as arenas where students are limited to learning only what they can be disseminated from textbooks and behind computer screens, not practical skills.

Sidney Kincaid had never practiced CPR on a dummy and her only knowledge of the process came through an online course through Oregon Connections Academy’s new medical program.

Living in a remote area like Lyons presents logistical challenges for someone like Kincaid who has an interest in the medical field, but limited access to a physical program.

But when she competed in the HOSA Future Health Professionals competition in Portland last weekend she found herself drawing a line to the center of the dummy’s chest, locking her arms and performing chest compressions.

She didn’t realize how much of the procedure she had internalized.

“The thing was I actually didn’t really know how much I actually understood it until I actually got in there and actually started doing the compressions,” said Kincaid, a junior.

“I actually went right where I needed to be and started the compressions.”

Kincaid is one of the first students to participate in ORCA’s new Medical Science Pathway, a Career Technical Education program that is one of the first of its kind for an online high school.

Before students like Kincaid graduate from high school, they will have the knowledge and training to become a certified clinical medical assistant after taking a test from the National Healthcareers Association.

There is no universal requirement for CMA certification to work as a medical assistant, but it can be helpful in finding a position, said ORCA teacher Anika Miller, a former medical assistant.

CTE programs emphasize technical, academic and career skills and education aimed at specific careers in areas like welding, agriculture, auto body and auto painting.

Through its ASCEND program, Oregon Connections Academy offers programs in Business and Management, Computer Science and Medical Science.

While many CTE programs are designed to make the student job ready by the time they graduate high school, the medical science pathway gives students that plus a foundation on which they can build, too.

“Actually, in the CTE program, we are focusing on medical assisting because that’s what we’re working for, but the nice thing with the medical field, it’s all about being able to step up from medical assisting to LPN, which is licensed practical nurse, you can go to RPN, which is registered practical nurse,” Kincaid said.

The health science pathway is designed to be a three-year program, but with it being the first year of the program, Kincaid has to finish it in two years.

Miller participated in a similar program while in high school in California.

After graduating from high school, she got a job at a university medical center, dramatically reducing her eventual debt.

Mikayla Wood, a junior at ORCA from Scio, hopes her training from the program will help her to her career goal of becoming a radiologist.

She is favoring attending Oregon State’s Pre Med program and plans to find a job as a medical assistant either at the college she attends or in a clinical setting nearby.

“Having something that will help with that and also show colleges that I’ve been working and trying to get to that before I graduated,” Wood said.

About once per month, students join Miller at ORCA’s facility in Wilsonville for practical experience.

And a group of students is going to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland to view an open-heart surgery.

“We discuss and practice techniques for assessing vital signs like blood pressures, temperatures, pulse … and charting, as well as delve into unit topics like safety and emergency preparedness,” Miller said.

Online learning is one thing, but finding out if it transfers to real life is different.

Wood placed third in the extemporaneous writing competition and qualifies to compete at the HOSA National Leadership Conference June 19 to 22 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Wood wrote her paper about opioid addiction and what her chapter can do.

“With my parents working in health care and through my church, I always hear about the rehabilitation, people want to get clean and stuff,” Wood said.

“I really focused like how we can start a program at our school to not only spread knowledge about it, but how we can get involved in those programs and help them get through it.”

Both of Wood’s parents work as CT Technologists at local hospitals.

Though she’s been around hospitals most of her life, Wood still realizes she has a lot to learn to follow her desired career path.

The program through ORCA is giving her a base from which to learn.

“I am looking forward to getting more hands-on experience, because I find with the stuff we’ve been learning, it’s a lot easier to learn hands-on than just reading on the computer,” Wood said.

“You can have it in your head, but it doesn’t stick until you’ve been doing it. It’s been a lot. It’s a lot to take in.”

bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler