Klamath County School District will offer a new medical assistant pre-apprenticeship program at Mazama and Henley high schools starting in the 2024-25 school year.
The new program partners with Sky Lakes Medical Center to provide students with a full year of medical assistant college-level courses. Lauren Lorenz teaches CTE (career and technical education) health occupation courses at Mazama High School and will be teaching the medical assistant pre-apprenticeship course there next year.
“We will be teaching the same curriculum that medical assistants are taught at Sky Lakes,” she said. “The medical center wants to build a bridge and have students continue their training at Sky Lakes.”
Students who complete the pre-apprenticeship will be eligible for a one-year post-graduation certified medical assistant training program at Sky Lakes Medical Center that prepares students for national certification. The students also will have an opportunity while still in high school to join a newly launched Clinic Ambassador Program at Sky Lakes that provides on-the-job paid learning opportunities at its primary care clinics.
“We are excited to help build the next generation of health care clinicians,” said Dr. Erin Gonzales, Sky Lake’s chief medical officer. “These programs help to expand access to care and change the lives of students through exposure to lifelong learning in the medical field.”
The new program adds to an already robust CTE health occupations line up. Students in Health Occupations 1 class visit and shadow medical professionals at Sky Lakes once a week to learn about job options in the medical field. Health Occupations II provides students an opportunity to earn their certified nursing assistant (CNA) certification. The new medical assistant course will be Health Occupations III.
Mazama High School juniors Meda Lee and Rylee Blaschke plan on taking the medical assistant pre-apprenticeship courses as seniors next fall.
Lee is interested in a career in the medical field and plans to study to become a physician’s assistant (PA). Blaschke is planning for a career as a firefighter. Both say studying to be a medical assistant is a stepping stone to their goals.
Lee has taken Health Occupations I and says the ability to shadow medical professionals at Sky Lakes helped her decide her career path.
“When I graduate, I should be able to work at a hospital,” Lee said. “College is expensive so I feel getting a job right after graduating high school is a big deal.”
Blaschke said being able to see how a medical center operates is valuable knowledge as she pursues her career as a firefighter.
“I think anyone interested in the medical field should take these courses,” she said. “The medical field is just so broad. There are so many options, and a lot of people end up paying for college and going through all the training before they really know if it is the career field they want.”
Medical assistant will be the second pre-apprenticeship program offered at Mazama and Henley. Currently, Henley offers construction pre-apprenticeship, and that program is expanding to Mazama, Lost River, and Bonanza next school year.
Mazama also is exploring a pre-apprenticeship pathway in manufacturing for the future, said Vice Principal Sergio Cisneros.
“Our commitment is to educate and help students by providing opportunities that are tangible,” Cisneros said. “Students are still in high school, yet have a hands-on chance to see what they are learning in action so they can make educated decisions on what they may or may not want to do in the future.”
The key to these programs is the support of local businesses and organizations. Sky Lakes Medical Center, for example, currently partners with the school district to offer on-the-job training opportunities to high school students through its Unit Ambassador Earn to Learn program. That program provides students with hands-on experience in non-clinical roles while earning wages for their time.
“The amazing part about our community is health care professionals want to partner with us,” Lorenz said. “They see the need. They see the value.”
Jennifer Hawkins, principal at Mazama High School, says pre-apprenticeship programs give students a chance to explore career options and learn skills before they graduate and make a career decision.
“I think it’s a way to serve students and serve the community. We’re growing our own,” she said.
