During the lock down in 2020, Eric Chavez, ’22 had the idea of a “Future Healthcare Professionals” (FHP) club with his peer, Natalia Rodriguez, ’22.
Rodriguez and Chavez worked through the summer to get the club up and running, but ran into some challenges along the way.
They had trouble building the club because it was hard recruiting members over the Covid lock-down. All they had to promote their new club at the time was Instagram, Remind text messages, and their friends to spread the word.
Rodriguez and Chavez then needed to begin looking for people who were leaders, creative, and critical thinkers to become future officers.
Starting a club was a lot of work for both of them. They had to draft, get a club constitution approved, outline a general plan, complete by-laws, and complete the club application to make their club official.
Over Zoom, Chavez and Rodriguez, and the other officers were able to hold meetings with real-life healthcare professionals.
For Chavez and Rodriguez, the experience would have been better if they were able to attend a healthcare facility in-person.
FHP advisor, Ms. Sanchez expressed that the challenge was that the club was started during the Covid shut-down, and it was difficult trying to get a hold of medical professionals.
Sanchez says, “I want to get many students exposed to the medical field in case this interests them.”
FHP President, Chavez’s goals for this club is to create a community of students at Redwood who are interested in the healthcare field after high school.
He understands that choosing a career is difficult for most students. Because of that, the club’s mission is to help students determine whether or not the healthcare field is right for them by exploring the world of healthcare through various events.
They hope to accomplish this through hands-on learning directly from healthcare professionals.
Chavez wanted to start this club because there was no other like it. He did not see a place for future medical students to come together and talk about their futures to see what interests them in their mission in healthcare.
Chavez wanted to create a space for people to come and learn about the medical field, even if the medical profession is not their first choice of career.
FHP member, Ayla Ozturk, ’24 explained that she joined the club because, “[she has] always wanted to work in a medical field since [she] was little.”
FHP Publicity Chair, Sydney Brammer, ’22 expressed how they couldn’t have in-person guest speakers along with few opportunities for community service.
In the future, FHP would like to do more community service and have in-person guest speakers, if possible.
The club’s plans are to educate people who want to be in the medical field about possible future healthcare professions, according to Brammer.
Brammer decided to become an officer for the club because both of her parents are in the medical field, and she’s interested in Kinesiology. She is hoping this club will rub off on her to pursue her dreams.
FHP Vice-President, Rodriguez expressed the challenges she faced from the unique circumstances the club started with.
Because the club originated during the shut-down, she didn’t have a way to let people know about their new club that specializes in medical care.
FHP member, Ella Carney, ’22 joined the Mount Whitney High School Academy for Nursing to take off her potential career as a Certified Nursing Assistant after she takes the exam.
FHP is helping Carney with her nursing because she gets a hands-on experience along with more information so that she is prepared.
The Mount Whitney Nursing program is helping Carney decide if nursing is what she wants to do in her future.
For more information, you can find their Instagram at @ redwood.fhp or text @ rhsfhp2020 to 81010.
Tags: clubs & lifestyles, covid-19, FHP, Future Healthcare Professionals, Jacob Huerta, medical field, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, redwood rangers