Since the world has been in existence, young minds have been bred to be prepared for their futures and what exactly that future will shape up to be. Since its opening hoorah in 1999, Plano West Senior High School has served as one of the premier learning and educating facilities in the area, state and beyond. But what Plano West also offers that goes often unnoticed is the campus’ training departments, from volunteering in the community, helping those in need in and out of the school walls, but also prepping aspiring students who want to get a head start on their future endeavors and careers. One of those programs at West that operates beyond the limitations of the school’s setting is the clinical rotations program.
Clinical rotations is a curriculum itself, with rules, regulations, grades and guidelines. The class is typically a two-hour block in a student’s schedule, and they spend much of their time out in the world, at least the local world, shadowing and observing real doctors, nurses and personnel in the profession they wish to explore and potentially join in their later years.
Junior Savannah Grant is enrolled in the course and very much enjoys what the class has to offer.
“Not only I do love the teachers and the people, but it has also been an awesome experience for me,” Grant said. “I have learned skills that will help me pursue my medical career, and I have been exposed to a lot of different parts of the medical field that has helped me decide what I want to do.”
The positive feedback from students like Grant is reflected all across campus. Clinical rotations have proven to be one of the most influential programs that West gladly offers to the students.
The school takes well-earned pride in implementing, running, and utilizing programs that help pave the road to life beyond high school, which is where we become who we are, and it is never too early to start searching inside yourself for what you want to become. Whether it is a doctor, an engineer, or even a teacher, West has a department for that, with clinical rotations setting an example.
Since the school’s first operating hours over a decade ago, Sherry McLaughlin has been running the clinicals program. The two elective credits and occasional medical terminology quizzes do not do justice for what she has shared with students over the years. Aiding her is pediatric nurse Amanda Hellmann. McLaughlin herself served as an operating room nurse for many years before seizing this opportunity at West and fully committing to the clinicals curriculum. Clinical 1 is during zero hour and first period and second and third period, while Clinical 2 is during periods four and five. The two hour block allows students to gain valuable hours of experience in the classroom with their certified medical teachers, but also off campus at various hospitals where they spend one week each.
“We offer over 16 sites for our students to attend,” McLaughlin said. “They are Baylor, Children’s, Presbyterian, Medical Center of Plano, and more.”
Whether it is brushing up on the fine points of the medical field or watching a real doctor wrapping up real joints in the medical business, the clinicals program has excelled for many years and the direction and perception of the program remains at the top of its game.
