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MUSC goes to the 5th grade

So, what do you want to be? You know, when you grow up.

Diagnostic Imaging manager Ray Manigault points to the subtle shading of an X-ray indicating an area that would interest a radiologist.

MUSC has options, not all of them to be sure, but in health care, MUSC is in the business of helping people become health care professionals. 

“It’s time to start thinking about it right now,” was the message 23 MUSC representatives from a wide variety of health care fields brought to seven Charleston County elementary schools Jan. 18. 

Dr. Paul Bush, director of Pharmacy Services, describes pharmacy as a career choice.

Doctor and nurse, physician assistant and medical technician, dentist and lab technician, physiologist and physical therapist, radiologist and dietitian, pharmacist and clinical services manager and others visited school classrooms and introduced their career fields and answered student questions about what they do: “How long did you go to school?” “Is it hard?” “How much money do you make?” 
 Rapid-fire questions came one after another, and students heard answers that their teachers hope will encourage them to study hard and plan for a future career. 

And not necessarily a career in health care. MUSC also sent an engineer, law enforcement officer from Public Safety, a risk management expert, and a hospital admissions expert.

Fifth graders at Mitchell Elementary School gather around Meducare operations coordinator Dave Pilkenton and flight nurse Pamela Burke to find out what it’s like to transport patients by helicopter from accident scenes and other hospitals.

“By bringing this program to fifth graders, we are investing in MUSC’s future,” said President’s Chief of Staff Sabra Slaughter, Ph.D. “And we want to plant the idea early.” Slaughter said that by strengthening MUSC’s partnership with the schools in the MUSC neighborhood, students can see the university and careers in health care as choices well within their reach.

“MUSC has been involved in a number of programs for older students, but this is the first time we’ve taken the message to elementary schools in District 20,” said program coordinator Susan Carullo, Medical Center manager of employment compensation and employee relations. “The goal is to expose them to the many different careers and employment opportunities at MUSC.”