Dr Kearney students get an up-close look at variety of healthcare careers

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Students at Dr. Kearney middle school displayed expressions of curiosity when they entered the gymnasium Thursday morning to attend Northern Health’s Healthcare Tradeshow.

The show saw healthcare professionals from many different factions of the health authority attend to allow students to ask any questions they may have.

Byron Stewart with Northern Health says the goal of the tradeshow was to allow students to learn about the wide variety of careers available in the healthcare sector.

“There are many varieties of roles throughout a community: hospitals, medical clinic positions, careers that are possible for youth,” Stewart said.

“Whether they graduate from high school and want to get into a career, or decide to further their education, there are many options for them to think about before they get into high school.” 

Diane Pearson, a resource nurse for mental health and substance use for Northern Health, says the show was an excellent opportunity to expose youth to other disciplines in healthcare.

“There are so many other disciplines within healthcare that people can do. Healthcare is a very stable career, it’s recession-proof, and there are a lot of positions available where you can walk into a full-time position with no experience freshly graduated,” Pearson said.

Some careers shown to students included office positions, care workers, social work positions with mental health and addictions, and emergency room positions.