At Frenship High School, students have the opportunity to get a head start on several careers through the Career and Technical Education or CTE graduation pathways. Frenship has over 90 CTE courses across 26 programs of study, including agriculture, culinary, law enforcement, and health sciences.  

The health science program at Frenship is truly beneficial to students wanting to pursue careers in the health field. Frenship offers practicums for the Pharmacy Technician, Nurse Assisting and Clinical Medical Assistant courses. These courses are senior level courses that connect the learning environment with real-life, hands-on skill sets. In the practicum courses offered at Frenship High School, each course leads to an actual national certification in a particular area of practice within healthcare. 

At Frenship, the Health Science Division is one that prepares students to succeed in the overall field of healthcare. Every course is beneficial to the students' future ambitions. The entry level program is Medical Terminology, which is an essential requirement for many entry level jobs in healthcare settings. The next course suggested is a course called Health Science Theory. This class allows students to explore healthcare careers, professionalism and body systems while also learning essential basic skills associated with that body system. For example, in the process of studying the cardiovascular system, students will be introduced to assessment of heart rate and blood pressure. During the student’s junior and senior years at Frenship, students can choose advanced classes such as Pharmacology, Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology, and Pathophysiology.  

While obtaining a certification is an incredible accomplishment in high school, the work experiences within their certification allow the students to gain valuable understanding that helps with their ultimate career goals. Students apply classroom knowledge and practical simulations with actual patient care. Students often share they feel they have found their calling or have increased clarity of their field of work through the practicum experience.   

This certification process is not only beneficial for students but the health care professional community. Students are able to able gain valuable experience in their field of interest and employers are able to fill high demand roles in these specialized fields.  

Lori Powell RN, MSN-Ed, SBEC-HST, and Health Science teacher at Frenship High School, stated that she receives calls from local healthcare providers who are in need of employees with national certifications and specialized skill sets. Powell stated that the practicums are a winning solution for all.  

The Frenship health science program is one that builds general knowledge and skill. This prepares future physicians, nurses, therapists and the like. Their foundation from Frenship’ s health science CTE program translates to any healthcare field or specialty they may choose later. 

While many students stay local upon graduation, Frenship health science graduates can be found all over the country working as healthcare providers.