BALLSTON SPA — Ballston Spa students had the opportunity to learn more about medical professions as part of the Albany Medical Center Health Careers Exploration Program, a newly formed collaboration between Ballston Spa Central School District and Albany Medical Center (AMC).
Students from both the middle and high school were invited to visit AMC and learn more about careers in specific healthcare fields and the medical school. AMC’s Project MedSCOPE (Medical Student Community Outreach for Prevention & Education) provided faculty, residents and medical students from the Department of Family and Community Medicine to help educate the students through a variety of related educational experiences.
Ballston Spa Middle School students had the opportunity to learn more about careers in the healthcare fields as they met with professionals in nursing, pharmacy, and case management/social work.
They participated in a day-long program and had the opportunity to experience several hands-on healthcare activities. These students will have the opportunity to take related high school courses that provide further career exploration and preparation in the biomedical sciences.
Students from Ballston Spa High School’s Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Biomedical Science program are also visiting Albany Medical College and learning more about healthcare, the medical college and applying to medical school. Students who visited earlier this fall started their day experiencing real life scenarios by interviewing a standardized patient before moving into the simulation lab to investigate ways to help the patient. They then had the opportunity to tour the medical college and interact with medical students. The Ballston Spa students were very excited about their experience and for some the opportunity confirmed their plans to enter careers in the medical field.
The PLTW Biomedical Science classes at Ballston Spa High School are a sequence of courses that provide a hands-on, real-world problem solving approach to learning. Students explore the concepts of human medicine as well as the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Students work collaboratively to investigate and design innovative solutions for health challenges of the 21st century. The sequence of courses is designed for students interested in pursuing a career in biological sciences, emergency services, healthcare or medicine.
This partnership with Albany Medical Center was developed through the Ballston Spa Central School District’s Partnership for Innovation in Education program. The program creates innovative educational experiences that help reshape teaching and learning in the district schools so that Ballston Spa students have the potential to learn from brilliant scientists, world-renowned artists and musicians, committed civic leaders and leading companies to support research and development in the K–12 classrooms.
For more information, visit www.bscsd.org or contact Courtney Lamport, Coordinator of Development, at (518) 884-7195, ext. 1369 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
