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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2007-08-22, Page 18Crossroads 18 Times -Advocate Wednesday, August 22, 2007 HealthKick brings students home to By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — Three medical students have been working locally this summer as part of the HealthKick Huron program which places students throughout the county alongside doc- tors, nurses and other medical service profes- sionals to give the stu- dents experience and help convince them to return to work in Huron County after finishing school. There are 11 students working in Huron County this summer and locally Amy Weido is working at South Huron Hospital (SHH) while Alexandrea Peel is at the Exeter office of Town and Country Support Services (TCSS) and Emily Cardiff has spent her summer at the Hensall Health Centre. To qualify, students must be Huron County residents; must demon- strate a keen interest in a health care career and provide evidence of student status for September 2007. To be eligible for the program employers must offer placements related to health care careers and hire students from Huron County. Cardiff is a 19 -year-old nursing stu- dent from Brussels going into her third year at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and is in her second summer with the HealthKick program after spending last summer at the Huronlea Home for the Aged. Cardiff said she has enjoyed her summer prepping patients at the centre as well as observing the work of the nurse practitioner on different types of cases. She adds it was a dif- ferent type of work this year compared to last summer at Huronlea because this year she saw a variety of ages. Cardiff said as she is only half way through her course she hasn't decided yet about where she would like to work but is thinking about returning to Huron County. "The staff has been really encouraging," says Cardiff. "They have been good role models." For 19 -year-old Peel, who lives between Bluevale and Wroxeter and is going into her second year of kinesiol- ogy at the University of Waterloo, it has been "a great experience," at Town and Country Services. Peel said she is famil- iar with the science behind exercise and knows what muscles are used when lifting your arm in the frontal plane and knows the pathway of blood from the heart to the lungs. But it was not until she began working as a Home Team assistant that she understood what can happen when those processes begin to break down. "Exercise is no longer used as a tool to create the perfect body, but as a means to help seniors increase indepen- dence and perform everyday tasks such as getting out of bed, get- ting dressed and brush- ing their teeth. "My position involved giving presentations about exercise to seniors in our area and leading weekly exercise classes for seniors groups and retirement residences. "Each day I was amazed with the progress clients made Emily Cardiff and I took pride in watching clients achieve their goals." Peel said with the number of seniors in Huron County increas- ing, it has been matched with an increase in the number of falls and she says it is rewarding to know she is helping seniors make exercise an important of their lifestyle. Other jobs Peel per- formed at the centre were tabulating payroll, assisting with the annu- al golf tournament and helping the home sup- port, scheduling and community support co- ordinators and a multi- tude of receptionist and secretarial duties. "I fully enjoyed my time working with TCSS and the entire HealthKick program. I have acquired more knowledge over the summer than a text book could ever teach," said Peel. Peel said she is look- ing forward to reapply- ing to the program next year and trying one of the many jobs that are available through the County. TCSS Jean O'Rourke said it is the first year the Exeter office has had a student and it has been great for TCSS. "We couldn't have asked for anyone bet- ter. She has been so full of new and and creative ideas and the seniors she has worked with have responded very positively to her energy and warmth." Community Service Co-ordinator Faye Skinner added that the exercise programs offered by Peel encour- age seniors who would- n't otherwise exercise "By Alex bringing these programs to the seniors with her bubbly enthusiasm for exer- cise, the clients realize they do have the ability to benefit physically and mentally." Twenty -year-old Weido, who lives in Exeter, says her experi- ence of working at South Huron Hospital good drip on what the will give her a head schools are start on her classmates For more going into her second and final year of practi- cal nursing at Conestoga College in Kitchener. "I feel lucky to be in the program," says Weido. "I didn't think a student could get in a hospital. It's a good opportunity." Weido says she has been able to do work at the hospital that her class hasn't done yet and the hospital staff has been great to her, showing her everything they can. "It's been a good experience with the whole health care team," says Weido who worked both the 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift and 3 to 9 p.m. SH Hospital clinical resource nurse Brenda Palsa said Weido has worked out well and has taken on an inde- pendent role with responsibility for four to five patient assign- ments. Palsa added Health Kick also benefits the hospital because it gives the hospital "a teaching. information Huron on applying for the HealthKick program, check www.healthkick- Summer jobs — Top photo, Exeter nursing student Amy Weido, shown with South Huron Hospital clinical resource nurse Brenda Palsa, was one of several medical students working throughout Huron County this summer as part of the HealthKick Huron program.Above,Alexandrea Peel (right) worked at the Exeter Town and Country Support Services office and shows from left Amy Schwartzentruber, Faye Skinner and Jean O'Rourke some of the exercises Peel has been teaching seniors this summer. 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