The Health Care Traveling Roadshow was in Vanderhoof on Wednesday and Thursday last week. They came to show young students what it's like to work in the health care industry.
The roadshow was set up at the Evelyn Dickson elementary school on Thursday, providing elementary kids with the opportunity to learn about a wide range of health care related careers.
The purpose of the roadshow was two-fold, first to show the elementary students all their options and second, to show the health care students what it's like in a rural area.
"There are six stations, the kids are exposed to a lot of hands-on activities and then take this information into high school," said Darren Carpenter, the district career and trades programs coordinator. "We hope to do it again and turn it into an annual event, we're very excited because we can partner with them and we're very interested in getting them to come back."
The reason Vanderhoof should be so excited to host the roadshow again is because the people showing the demonstrations to the kids are the health care students who may be looking to settle in a place like the Nechako Valley.
"The primary goal is to plant seeds in school-age kids and to give them an idea that there's a bunch of different health care careers, give them a tactile experience," said Dr. Sean Maurice, an instructor at UNBC and organizer for the roadshow. "One of the other pieces is there's sort of a recruiting angle, so the city has a chance to showcase rural living and rural practice."
The health care students went on a tour of St. John Hospital, which gave them a chance to see what resources are available at a rural hospital and show them things they don't learn in school.
The health care students ranged in fields from nursing to occupational therapist, from medical radiology technologist (x-ray technician) to physiotherapist.
They all had presentations where the kids got to play with the tools from the different professions and learn just why each medical student loves their field.
"I think it went very well," said Gerry Thiessen, mayor of Vanderhoof. "We're really very excited about this."
The day before the presentations at the school all the medical students were taken to a dinner in the park and shown the beauty of the Vanderhoof community.
"We had a good contingent of local government leaders from both council and the regional district, as well as doctors from the hospital," said Thiessen. "As well, one of our local contractors came out with his jet boat and gave a tour of the Nechako River. So they got a good chance to see that."