Prevalence of health professional students at a Midwestern college of health professions who attended a high school biomedical program

Abstract

To address the shortage of healthcare professionals nationwide, high schools across the nation have introduced biomedical programs into their curriculum to draw students into the health career track; in particular minority and underrepresented students who represent a large untapped resource of potentially eligible healthcare students. In order to determine the magnitude of such programs in Kansas, 1,358 individuals were surveyed who were either current or past healthcare students in a Midwestern college of health professions. Methodology: A 16 question survey, collected respondents’ demographic information, whether they participated in a high school biomedical program, and their perceptions of the program (if a participant). If appropriate the respondents were also asked to rate their biomedical program in terms of curriculum, healthcare insight gained, clinical experience, and student counseling. Results: The survey response rate was 17.7% (n=241). 7% (n=18) of the respondents participated in a high school biomedical program. Of those students who participated in a biomedical program, 94% went on to major in healthcare during college. Demographically, the majority of respondents were White (89.2%) and female (86.3%) with little representation of minority and underrepresented students. Conclusion: Overall it appears that only a small percent of the pre-professional and professional healthcare students at a Midwestern college of health professions attended a biomedical program in high school; however, those who did, a majority (94%) found the programs to be beneficial in preparing them for a career in healthcare.