By Eliza PARTIKA

On Friday, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital held its annual Health Care Day of Discovery for 78 students from 11 local high schools, including Burbank High School, La Cañada High School and AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School. The goal of the event is to introduce students to and encourage them to learn more about careers in health care, including and beyond the traditional role of doctor or nurse. Students participated in interactive labs conducted by frontline USC-VHH health care staff, including nurses, physical therapists, cath lab technicians and EMTs. Students listened to panels detailing the day-to-day work requirements for jobs in nutritional services, information technology in health care, emergency services and radiology, among others.

CEO of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, Armand H. Dorian, MD, MMM, said this “day of discovery” is meant for students to find their own path as he, and many others in the medical profession, have.

“It’s not a straight line. When I was 16, I didn’t imagine I would be the CEO of a hospital. Your journey is unique, as long as you have an idea of where you want to get to. So it’s trying to impart what you might want your destination to be. Don’t be so stressed about ‘I didn’t do that volunteer work so I can’t be a nurse or [I didn’t take] this class or that class so I can’t be a doctor. If you have a goal, everything is accomplishable,” he advised.

Dorian and the organizers of Health Care Day of Discovery purposefully integrated educating the students about some of USC Verdugo Hills’ new and advanced technologies, such as its new Cardiac Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology suite and its Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation & Fitness Center.

Students were ushered into the fitness center for a demonstration of a Holter monitor, which uses patches that stick to the skin to monitor heart rate for a short period of time. Questions were plentiful from students as they watched their peers’ heart rate blip up and down on a computer screen registering the heart beat.

Dorian told the CV Weekly he sees this introduction and integration of new health care technology as his duty – both as an emergency medicine physician and as hospital CEO. He said providing the newest and best tools, and teaching others to use them, brings higher quality care to patients. He hopes students will use their unprecedented understanding of technology to better the lives of patients in the future.

“These kids’ lives are almost intertwined with technology; none of them probably have even known about an age without a smartphone. They’re going to be able to use these tools to help save lives. Showing them the opportunity of technology and medicine together – it is going to make a massive difference,” he said.

Several of the students expressed a new desire to go into health care, or learn more about careeers in the health care field.

Eleventh grade student Hooys Dorian, Dr. Dorian’s daughter, attends AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School. She has eyed medicine as a potential career and has enjoyed and excelled in biology and even researched dermatology in her own time. Watching her father as the CEO of the hospital has also driven her to explore health care administration and business degrees.

“It’s really hard for some teenagers to have mental health. A lot of people struggle with stuff like that. And it’s something I’ve struggled with, too. And I want to make other people feel beautiful in their own skin. So I feel like if I go into that realm, university and college and study it professionally, I would love it because I do it on my own time for someone,” Hooys said. “I also love to lead, so if I wasn’t [involved in] medicine I’d probably want to administer something, maybe [something] to do with dermatology. I’d want to manage, lead and refer.”

Leigh Epstein, an 11^th grade student from La Cañada High School, grew up with parents in the arts and considers music as her passion. Because of the Day of Discovery, she is thinking about ways her skills in music could transfer into health care while exploring college options.

“There are different career paths that are suited for different types of people. There are so many options and every single panelist that spoke to us, they each had different pathways,” said Epstein. “They all seemed very happy and successful in their career choices. It’s very helpful when going into college [considering the] stress and anxiety of college. It’s reassuring to see because there were a lot of people who took the community college pathway and that was something that I hadn’t even considered.”

Tarina Kang, chief medical officer USC Verdugo Hills, let students share accomplishments in health-related subjects and otherwise to provide encouragement. After student representatives shared accolades and awards from choir, state debate competitions, health classes and more, Kang expressed her amazement at the students’ great successes.

“I heard about all the wonderful things you’re doing not just in academics, but in service and athletics. And so I really liked that sort of breadth of excelling, especially in high school,” Kang told the students. “I’m also really impressed that you guys chose to come here today [especially] being so talented and all these other areas.”

Dr. Dorian hopes that this year’s students, like alums of past Discovery Days, will come back to Verdugo Hills as doctors, nurses or other health care workers.

The pandemic scared many people away from health care, Dr. Dorian said, but he hopes giving these kids an idea of the latest technology and expertise used in “the noblest profession” is inspiring for students, past and present.

“What I want is for them to know that their destiny is in their hands, and that they can decide what they want to do. Just know that health care is probably the most noble of professions out there,” he said, “and so you should consider it in your journey of your life and say, ‘Maybe this is something for me.’”