In our rural community employment opportunities tend to be limited but one area our region has a high demand for is the healthcare industry.  

During the fall of 2024-25 program year the 4-H Health Science Club was established.  The fall activity included a day with UK Physical Therapy collaborating with the UK Engineering Department the 4-Her’s created adaptions for toys for children with disabilities.  In addition to club meetings and speakers in the field within the community sharing their own journey, the youth had an amazing opportunity to visit the UK Center for Excellence in Rural Health in Hazard KY.  

The club members were welcomed by the director of student affairs.    They were introduced to an instructor for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, a program available to complete on that campus.  Through that session they visited the Human Anatomy lab gaining, first-hand experience on what they would be studying in medical professions. The youth then visited the medical simulation lab where residents and current medical professionals come to practice techniques through real life simulations on robotic training mannequins. After that lab, the students had a session with the Medical Lab Scientist.  Medical lab science is another degree program available at this local campus.  The session was very interactive the youth used microscopes to identify different specimens and learned about what a day in the life of a MLS professional would look like.  The last portion of the tour students visited the physical therapy classrooms with an instructor who showed them many of the instruments used and spoke about daily duties and career opportunities within the field.

We are so thankful for this amazing opportunity for our youth to see firsthand real-life labs, facilities, daily lives of current students and meet instructors they would be directly involved with in the health science industry and discover UK’s local educational opportunities in our rural area.  All youth who began in our Health Science Club have remained interested in pursuing medical careers.  Our next step is to continue connecting our youth through networking with local healthcare professionals to gain additional opportunities, such as job shadowing.