A Head Start for the Medical-Minded

High Schools Offer More Classes in Growing Field

Juno Love started at Wheaton High School without a brain, but the students fixed that. The 29-inch-tall manikin soon had a wrinkly, reddish frontal lobe, a blue parietal lobe, a yellow occipital lobe and a green temporal lobe.

"She's going to be a genius," said Michael Robles, 16, as he admired the cerebral cortex sculpted from clay.

Aspiring doctors and medical technicians these days can often get lessons in anatomy, disease or radiology before college. The human body systems class at Wheaton High is among an increasing number of rigorous classes for high school students seeking an early glimpse into the growing health-care field -- and a head start on the training they'll need.

This summer, 50 Fairfax County public school students passed Virginia's pharmacy technician exam, qualifying them to step into a job at a drugstore or hospital. Prince George's County schools launched a biomedical program at Bladensburg High School in 2005. Loudoun County is offering classes in radiology technology, with plans to add pharmacy and medical laboratory technology classes.

Health care, one of the largest industries in the country, is projected to grow as the ranks of aging baby boomers swell. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 3 million health-care jobs will be created in the decade before 2016 -- more than in any other industry. Seven of the 20 fastest-growing occupations are in health care.

Among the 10 students in Loudoun's radiology technology class, there is a would-be radiologist, a future cardiologist and a prospective pediatrician. Sarah Nuval, 18, has her sights set on becoming a chiropractor.

"My brother has a back problem," she said, "and I want to fix it someday."

The programs are designed with a hands-on style intended to give students a clear picture of the connection between real-world jobs and the biology and chemistry they study in other classes. Many of them, reflecting an effort by schools to provide increasingly sophisticated vocational education, prepare students to graduate with the training and certifications they'll need to immediately enter health-care jobs. Those jobs can be a starting point for students who plan to work to help pay for college.

One morning this week, Nuval and her classmates, sporting crisp white lab coats, toured the Loudoun Free Clinic in Leesburg, which provides care to poor, uninsured county residents. Teacher Terri Settle fired off questions.

"Another name for swelling is?"

"Oh! Edema," Nuval said.

"Bile is secreted by the . . . ?"