Inspiring Youth to Consider Careers in Healthcare

Podcast Transcript

Dr. James K. Stoller:

Hello, and welcome to MedEd Thread, a Cleveland Clinic Education podcast that explores the latest innovations in medical education, and amplifies the tremendous work of our educators across the enterprise.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Hello, welcome to today's episode of MedEd Thread, an education podcast, exploring field trips and speakers bureau programs at Cleveland Clinic Center for Youth and College Education. I'm your host, Dr. Tony Tizzano, director of Student and Learner Health here at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Today, I'm very pleased to have Randeep Chahal and Christine DeNicola, both program managers at Cleveland Clinic Center for Youth and College Education here to join us.

Randeep And Christine, welcome to the podcast. To get us started, if we could just tell us a little bit about yourselves, your educational background, what brought you to Cleveland, and your respective roles here at Cleveland Clinic. Randeep, we'll start with you.

Randeep Chahal:

Well, I was born and raised on the west coast of Canada, so very far from Cleveland. I did my bachelor's in microbiology over there. And then I met my husband in Chicago, and he works at the clinic as a research manager for the medical ICU, and that's how I ended up in Cleveland. And I am a program manager for field trips and the academic student program for the Center for Youth and College Education.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Perfect. Christine.

Christine DeNicola:

Well thank you for having us. My background is in education. I started out as a classroom teacher. I worked there for about 18 years. I became National Board certified and that opened some additional doors and opportunities that I hadn't anticipated. So I moved to Indiana. I worked for Indiana University and Purdue University to manage a HRSA Health Resources and Service administration grant that was designed to promote healthcare careers, so planting the seed of thought to children in grades K through 12, hoping to inspire them to go into healthcare in order to reduce some of those shortages that they knew they would be facing when the baby boomers retired.

Upon returning back to Ohio, then, I was fortunate enough to find a job at Cleveland Clinic in a role that is very similar. I manage the pipeline to healthcare careers here at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Fabulous. You know, I think it's great that you actually look at that K through 12, and the earlier the better. You never know when you're going to strike gold, if you can just plant that seed, and the earlier the better. In today's segment, we will focus on Cleveland Clinic's efforts towards inspiring interest in healthcare careers through field trips across the system, and by engaging caregivers via its speakers bureau. So to the both of you can help frame this initiative and what the goals are and give some insight into what all is involved with these programs.

Randeep Chahal:

Sure. So the field trip program started because as you know, Cleveland Clinic is a hospital system. So there is a lot of barriers when it comes to students and learners coming on site. There's onboarding, we have patients, we have to be very mindful of the fact that there are vulnerable populations around us. And a lot of the onboarding that is required requires health, immunizations, TB testing, background checks, and students under the age of 15 can't even go through this process. So the field trip program came about because we spoke with occupational health, student health, legal, 'cause we wanted students to still be able to come to Cleveland Clinic.

It's a huge, huge property, especially if you come to main campus. It's just amazing how large it is, and there's so much going on. But we wanted younger students to be able to come and to be able to view all of this and to experience it, but without having some of those barriers of onboarding.

So after all these conversations, it was decided that if we could keep students in non-clinical areas for less than four hours, they could do conference rooms, simulation activities, anything non-patient facing, as long as it was less than four hours, they wouldn't have to go through this large onboarding process. And they could come have an experience here at Cleveland Clinic and learn more about their career of interest, do a hands-on activity as a simulation activity, go to the pathology labs, things like that. So they could actually experience something in healthcare even at a young age where most of our programming does start at the age of 15 and up.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

And I would imagine for some of those younger folks, this is going to be the first time they've been able to interface with a healthcare professional.

Randeep Chahal:

Yep.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

I know I wouldn't have had that exposure if it weren't for a program like this. Christine, what about the work you do?

Christine DeNicola:

Well, the Speakers Bureau is relatively new to Cleveland Clinic. Back in 2021, Diversity, Equity Inclusion for Health Professions education had a committee and they identified a need. Then in 2022, Deb Kangesser led that committee and they were instrumental in developing the Speakers Bureau. And with that, they wanted to offer resources and tools for the speakers to use if they were going out to schools to present. So they invited CYCE, the Center for Youth and College Education to be a part of that and help develop those materials. So we did that. And then in 2023, they decided that the Speakers Bureau was more aligned with the work that we do, so it transitioned to us and now I helped to manage that.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah, that's excellent. You know, it's almost a perfect marriage. It gets started in one place. You see an opportunity that expands the horizon and away you go. So Randeep, I'm guessing that there are a myriad of potential field trip venues to consider. What are some of the more popular ones? And you mentioned that they're not patient-facing for this younger group, but are some of them?

Randeep Chahal:

None of them are patient-facing. If any group of students wants to do anything patient-facing, they would have to go through the longer onboarding process, which a lot of the schools don't wanna go through the TB testing.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Sure.

Randeep Chahal:

So the simulation center at main campus is by far our most popular field trip, just because if you've ever experienced any of that, it's hands-on. They have mannequins, they do sutures, they stop the bleed, they... It is just so hands-on. It really sparks the students' interest in healthcare, even though there isn't real patients that they're working with. And it's just amazing to see students who would've never seen anything like this unless they had to experience it themselves, be able to, you know, stop a bleed, or work with a mannequin and you know, you can even put in IVs and do all this cool stuff and kind of learn more and expand your horizons when it comes to healthcare.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah. You know, the advent of augmented reality and virtual reality has really been a game-changer. And if someone hasn't been to the Simulation Center at Cleveland Clinic, they don't know what to expect and what they're missing. I mean, it really is extraordinary. So, Christine, what are the areas of Endeavor that are covered by the Speakers Bureau and which tend to be the most frequent requests?

Christine DeNicola:

Well, primarily, most of our requests come from schools looking for speakers to speak to the students in the classroom, or to attend a career fair. And typically, the caregivers are just asked to talk about themselves, tell about their job, what they do, their roles and responsibilities, and education requirements. But most of all, how much money they can make.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah.

Christine DeNicola:

(laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Show us the money. Doesn't, doesn't that always come down to that sooner or later?

Christine DeNicola:

But in addition to the request from the schools, we also use the speakers who have registered for the Speakers Bureau to help fill some of the programming that we offer through the Center for Youth and College Education, such as our connected career round presentations or our student pathways programs where we're using the information from the caregivers to help make the students more aware of different opportunities that they have in healthcare beyond the typical doctor-nurse that they might associate with healthcare.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

That's exactly right. And, you know, there are so many, I think we have 120 some educational programs all told and, and I will admit, when I saw the list the first time, I didn't know what some of them were. And I work here. 

Christine DeNicola:

(laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Okay. So I think it's really important that you look at a company as large as we are to try to see what can you do to truly open the door and expose people. So are there general content and design goals, Randeep, to these programs?

Randeep Chahal:

Our goal is to expose students to both clinical and non-clinical careers. You know, when people think of hospitals, they think of doctors and nurses. They don't realize there's so many other careers, both clinically and non-clinically that are required to make a hospital system like this work. And also, when, you know, you have all these students that are like, "Oh, we wanna be a doctor." There's so many other careers that you can do a degree, a certification, and you're still making a good amount of money, and it requires less buy-in, less money, less schooling. So our goal is to expose students to both sides of healthcare, both clinical and non-clinical, 'cause when people think of hospitals, it's just, it's very, very narrow-minded.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

A nurse and a doctor. And what else is there?

Randeep Chahal:

And what else is there? Exactly.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So are there ones that you can come straight out of high school, go through a rather abbreviated program, say under six months and work?

Randeep Chahal:

There's a lot of programs, and a lot of those programs, Cleveland Clinic also offers. So our goal is to teach students that hey, you can get your foot in the door. And if you get your foot in the door at the clinic, from there you can have the clinic help you grow your career, do additional schooling, and really grow yourself while also being paid for it. We have apprenticeship programs with talent acquisition. There's what, like, sterile processing doesn't take that long. Phlebotomy program that doesn't take that long. But, you know, just getting your foot in the door with the clinic is huge in being able to grow your career, really.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah. You become insured-

Randeep Chahal:

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

... you start to gain tenure, and they do help with education.

Randeep Chahal:

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

In fact, they're all about that. And I think advancing people in their interests is part and parcel of what we stand for. I mean, education is one of the pillars of this organization. So Christine, you know, with your help and so forth, this Speaker's Bureau has really grown and utilization is increasing. What are reasons for this expansion and growing popularity, and how do you get people into it?

Christine DeNicola:

Well, I think there's several factors, but first and foremost, I have to give credit to our directors, Nicole Fennell and Dr. Mike Nelson, because they've done a lot of recruitment. They've gone out to all the departments and institutes to promote not only our CYCE programs, but opportunities for caregivers to volunteer, not only for the Speaker's Bureau, but to become mentors for our summer internship programs as well. So I'd have to say kudos to them for all the work they've done. And then also, we work with marketing and communications through Laura Greenwald, and she's been very instrumental in getting the word out in publications as well.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So there's been some good marketing behind it all. So for either of you, what are some of the questions that students who come to the table and think we might have interest in this? What are the concerns and questions that they routinely have?

Christine DeNicola:

I'll start with that. Oftentimes, we'll hear students say, "Oh, I can't go into healthcare because I don't like the sight of blood." So clearly, they don't understand that there are non-clinical roles that they can participate in. It's still working in healthcare and making good salary, but you really don't have any patient contact. And then on the other spectrum, we have students that say, "Oh, I can't go into healthcare 'cause I'm really interested in art." So we like to expose them to some of those career paths that are less traditional that they may not think of.

So for instance, if they were interested in art, they could go into art therapy or become a medical illustrator. So we like to give them a broader scope of what's available to them.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Excellent. Randeep.

Randeep Chahal:

The other thing students always wanna know about is how do I get there? What do I need to do? How much money am I gonna make? Because students think once you get into healthcare, you're just rolling in the dough. So showing them, you know, you can do a six-month program, a year program, this is kind of the minimum of what you'd be making. If you do another course, you do another certification, then you can go up to another like 10, $20,000 more for another six months of coursework. So just exposing them to the educational requirements is one of the things that they're extremely interested in.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

And this is while you're still working?

Randeep Chahal:

Yep.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Which is how often can you do that? I think that's one of the changing course is one of the things that the Cleveland Clinic wraps its arms around and really helps its employees with. Again, for both of you, what are some of the requirements to be a facilitator for the Speaker's Bureau? How are they recruited and how they've been received?

Christine DeNicola:

We'll take anybody who's willing to register. And the only true requirement is being passionate about what you do, and a strong desire to give back to the community. So being willing to do either a virtual or an in-person presentation, sharing your knowledge and expertise with the young students.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So if someone wasn't signed up, and they were just walking past your desk, you might wave them over and say, "Hey, let me sign you up here." Would you ever do something like that?

Christine DeNicola:

Oh, definitely. And it's an easy process. We have a simple form that they complete. And once they're registered, whenever I get new requests, an email goes out to them and if they're interested, they can select to participate. If not, they simply delete the email. So it's really-

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah.

Christine DeNicola:

... a flexible commitment.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

I thought we were gonna, you were gonna say that's how we got you at the Educators Collaborative.

Christine DeNicola:

(laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

I walked by and you flagged me in. Very good. So gaining access to these services and opportunity, where do students or interested persons go, their parents, what have you to look at, what opportunities are there? Randeep?

Randeep Chahal:

So our website is very comprehensive. It goes through all of our programs, our school-based programs. It gives you instructions on how to sign up both the Speaker's Bureau form and the field trip form takes literally a minute to fill out. So if a school wants to request a field trip or if they wanna request a speaker, all they have to do is fill out a form, and then after that our team handles it, gets back to them with whatever opportunities we have available.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Anything different for your end?

Christine DeNicola:

Well, internally, for our caregivers, if they're interested in signing up to be a speaker, they would go to the intranet. And on the intranet, they would search under Education Center for Youth and College Education. And then on the right side of our page it says how to get involved and it will give you links to getting involved to become a speaker or to become a mentor.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Thank you, Christine. That was perfect. Randeep, do you wanna add?

Randeep Chahal:

I did wanna add that the field trip program was formalized in 2024. And in 2023, we did still bring students in and we brought 140 students in. In 2024, we brought 840 students in-

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Wow.

Randeep Chahal:

... through the field trip program. And the number is only going to increase because I'm always recruiting field trip sites. So departments willing to host a field trip. All I ask is that you're not just talking at the students, you have something hands-on. There is an experience. It's not a field trip where you're just looking at a PowerPoint. So that's one of the biggest things is I want the students to be able to experience something when they're here. Something hands-on, looking at slides, doing something that's more engaging is very important. And as our numbers increase, we are always looking for more sites to host field trips.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah, I think not only is it more impactful, the chance that you're going to remember and be influenced by the information you get will be increased when multiple modalities [inaudible 00:15:42].

Randeep Chahal:

Definitely.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yes, Christine?

Christine DeNicola:

I would like to add to that. Her numbers were great. I'd have to say the increases for the Speaker's Bureau were also great. In 2024, we had 495 hours of caregiver volunteering to do presentations and they served over 12,000 students. And this is significant because we track that information for CBISA, the Community Benefit Inventory that we have to provide for social accountability, which is required by Cleveland Clinic to maintain their nonprofit status.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yes. Excellent. Yeah, that is really, again, another one of the hallmarks of this organization. So considering all those things, what do you see on the horizon given the Dr. Stoller magic wand, if you could wish for something, what would it be? Randeep.

Randeep Chahal:

My goal is to have a field trip experience at each of our regional sites, including Florida, including even, you know, maybe Las Vegas has the brain center.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Mm-hmm.

Randeep Chahal:

Toronto has sports therapy. Just having an experience available everywhere that students can sign up for would be my goal. But lower scale right now in Northeast Ohio. I would love to have something at all of our regional hospitals so that students from all around don't have to travel too far to kind of experience a field trip with Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Fabulous. And I have every confidence that you're well on your way to that. Christine.

Christine DeNicola:

As our caregivers participate in these positive experiences, we're hoping that they share that information with their colleagues and that they will inspire them to get involved as well. And our goal is to have at least 1% of all the caregivers at every Cleveland Clinic location registered. So that would give us a huge amount of diversity in the types of careers and information that we could offer to students.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So 1% of the 80,000?

Christine DeNicola:

Correct.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Why not?

Christine DeNicola:

(laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

It'd be perfect.

Christine DeNicola:

That's definitely doable. Dr. Tizzano.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Those are all admirable. So for either of you, are there any questions that I should have brought up or things that we might wanna discuss that I may have missed?

Christine DeNicola:

I would just like to mention the benefits to the caregivers. I think allowing them to share their knowledge and expertise and giving back to the community helps to build our pipeline for that next generation of caregiver. And if you haven't already registered, please do so. (laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Now. It's your chance.

Randeep Chahal:

I would like to echo what Christine said. Seeing the students' faces when they are going through these experiences, it really reminds you why you do what you do. And sometimes in the day-to-day you forget about all of that. And being able to help one to students explore all these career opportunities on top of also reminding yourself why you came into this career yourself is something that I think that all caregivers should be taking part in.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

That's a great point. And you know, you also might find that, boy, you know, this is something I always thought I'd wanna do, but now that I see what it entails, maybe not so much and shift direction. And there are so many ways to point yourself. But sometimes finding out what you don't wanna do is every bit as important as finding out what you do because education's expensive. It's time-consuming, and we invest a lot.

Randeep Chahal:

Definitely.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Well, thank you so much Christine and Randeep. This has been a wonderful and enlightening episode of MedEd Thread. To our listeners, if you'd like to suggest a medical education topic to us or comment on an episode, please email us at [email protected]. Thank you very much for joining, and we look forward to seeing you on our next podcast. Have a wonderful day.

Dr. James K. Stoller:

This concludes this episode of MedEd Thread, a Cleveland Clinic Education podcast. Be sure to subscribe to hear new episodes via iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, thanks for listening to MedEd Thread, and please join us again soon.