Event hosted by GCC shows students many local career opportunities in healthcare

Photos by Tom Rivers

BATAVIA – Medina firefighters Tiffany Petry and Dustin Pahura show students how to do CPR. The two firefighters were among many stations on Friday at Genesee Community College in Batavia, which hosted the second annual GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare.

There were 575 students from 31 school districts in the four rural GLOW counties, including the Orleans County school districts of Albion, Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina.

This group from Holley includes, from left: Mya Brown, Haidynn Mullins, Mia Thom and Isaiah Johnson.

The Holley  students said the day at GCC connecting with healthcare organizations was very helpful as they consider careers. Johnson wants to work in EMS, while the three girls are considering careers in psychology.

“There are many different options,” Mya Brown said about careers in healthcare.

They are at a table for the Livingston County Health Department, which showed candy and medicine, and also cleaning products. People were asked if they could tell the difference from cady and pills that could be potentially harmful to them. The exercise was intended to show the value of having a medicine lock box to make sure people, especially young children, didn’t accidentally confuse prescription pills with candy.

GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare started in 2023 and connected students to over 200 representatives from 57 companies, municipal agencies, non-profits, and educational institutions.

The healthcare event and GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing attract over 1,500 students annually with the goal of empowering youth in the four counties to seek success in careers.

“With GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare and GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing, we are seeing a generation of students that are engaging with careers with great opportunities in our region,” said Angela Grouse, GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair and Education to Employment Director at the Livingston County Area Chamber of Commerce. “Meeting the healthcare needs of our communities is a challenge that we are proactively addressing through the support of our participating organizations, sponsors, and volunteers.”

These students are in a vet tech workshop where they could simulate hearing the heartbeats for small dogs.

Every student participated in a pair of self-selected workshops with a variety of healthcare careers led by healthcare and emergency response professionals.

Sessions covered careers in EMS, pharmacy, healthcare administration, physical therapy, healthy living, physicians/residents, holistic medicine, radiology/sonography/ultrasound, mental health and social work, research science, nursing, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, physician’s assistant/nurse practitioner, surgery and vet technician.

Students put bandages on these stuffed dogs as part of the vet tech workshop.

Hospice of Orleans was among many organizations at the event. The agency was represented by Julia Alt, right, the director of advancement, and Kelli Birch, the volunteer coordinator.

Hospice is looking to fill positions for home health aide, social worker and registered nurse, and the agency welcomes more volunteers, Alt said.

Students were able to learn about Hospice, and also had a chance to fill out a greeting card for hospice patients.

Audra Fisher, a secretary with the Orleans County Emergency Management Office, and Justin McAdoo of the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company show students how to “stop the bleed” and put on tourniquets.

These students try a stethoscope on a baby mannequin “Luna” at a station for the nursing program at Genesee Community College. The students could listen to the heart beat, the sound of the lungs and the abdomen.

GCC has about 100 students complete an associate’s degree in nursing each year. The graduates go into careers with high demand, said Deborah Penoyer, director of the nursing program.

Jennifer Kula, back left in blue, is a current student in the program. She has done clinicals at local hospitals and a long-term care facility.

“The science and learning are awesome,” said Kula, a Batavia resident. “I love the opportunity to serve people in the community.”