By Lori BODNAR, intern

Nearly 500 high school students were inspired and enlightened during Health Career Night at Crescenta Valley High School. CVHS Health Career Night was a fun, educational, and highly informative event where students could hear from various experts in the fields of science and medicine to learn about different career paths and opportunities in health care.  Thirty of the school’s Academy of Science and Medicine officers, over 25 career professionals, and a dozen parent volunteers also attended.

As detailed in the Oct. 18 issue of CV Weekly, “Honing Skills in the Academy of Science and Medicine,” the Academy at CVHS is a career pathway program offering students the opportunity to explore the various careers available in the fields of science and medicine. Academy students perform internships, go on field trips, and use equipment and techniques used in today’s medical and research laboratories, in addition to taking extra Career Technical Education (CTE) courses in addition to their science class.

Attendance to the Health Career Night is a required event for all Academy students but other non-Academy students attended too. Many of these students received extra credit in their science classes but many were also interested in the opportunity to learn more about careers in health, medicine and science. There were more than 30 speakers with medical/scientific careers who came to share their expertise and experiences. The students stayed in eight different classrooms and the speakers rotated through the classrooms during the evening. The speakers ranged from USC/Keck Medical School neuroscientist Dr. Marcelo Coba to Adventist Health vice president Ramella Markarian and Kaiser Permanente medical director Dr. Kim Tran. Other speakers included doctors, surgeons, occupational therapists, physical therapists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, medical researchers, medical directors, medical coding assistants, public health, clinical laboratory scientists, pharmacists, nurses and nursing students.

Xefia Braganca, a nursing student from Glendale Community College, was one of the presenters.

“Being a nursing student has its ups and downs,” said Braganca. “Having your own motivation and sticking to it is a great part of being a nursing student.”

Her co-presenters Patricia Gonzalez, Jennifer Lam, and Leyla Zacarias expanded on her thoughts.

“It is a really interesting field to be in, to know about our bodies,” said Gonzalez.

Glendale Community College program director Sonali Perera was also on-site. Perera was instrumental in organizing the GCC dual enrollment program for Academy members at CVHS.

In addition to doctors and nurses, scientists also presented information. One of these was USC neuroscientist Dr. Marcelo Coba.

“We work on psychiatric disorders. We don’t work directly with the patients,” said Dr. Coba. “We do medical research. We try to find drugs to treat neurodevelopmental diseases.”

Dr. Coba also talked about what it takes to become a neuroscientist.

“First, you get a college degree in a science-related field. Then, you earn a Ph.D. You need to have experience in a lab and do research for a couple of years and learn the curriculum to apply for a Ph.D.,” he said. “Obtaining a Ph.D. is very competitive. The important thing is to plan and have your research published to have a higher chance of earning a Ph.D.”

Dr. Aaron McGuiness and Dr. Jaclyn Nash Lindell are both local physical therapists at Aspire Physical Therapy in La Cañada Flintridge. Aspire was founded by Dr. McGuiness in 2015. This was their first time participating in the CVHS Health Career Night.

“I had a personal experience that drew me into physical therapy,” said Dr. Lindell. “My friend was injured and was in a coma, and then later I was able to see her recover, progress and become herself again, happy and laughing. The doctors saved my friend’s life, but it was her physical therapist who brought my friend back to who she was. She now hikes the Pacific Crest Trail and is doing great. It was very moving. I started observing physical therapy at the clinic that she went to, as well as other places. I knew I wanted to be a part of working with someone and helping them get better.” 

“We help a lot of local dancers and athletes who are injured to recover and gain back their range-of-motion and strength,” added Dr. McGuiness. “In addition, we help to train the next generation of physical therapists. We have CVHS Academy students who come to Aspire to do internships to learn about physical therapy and kinesiology.”

Among the speakers were several CVHS students. Dr. Evelyn Avanessian, Dr. Emil Avanes, Dr. Vicken Sepilian, Dr. Sirvard Khanoyan, Dr. Romic Eskandarian, and Ramella Markarian are all CVHS graduates.

“Adventist Health has close ties to CVHS Academy,” said Markarian, vice president at Adventist Health. “In addition to Health Career Night, we also have monthly lunch speaker presentations for CVHS students. We offer summer internships. We are dedicated professionals committed to health care, including helping to build the next generation of future leaders in health care. In a few weeks, we are offering a full-day tour of Glendale Adventist Medical Center to the Academy students, including viewing the operating rooms, hospital, pharmacy, and laboratories.”

Giulia Daneshgaran, a graduate of CVHS, is a third year medical student studying plastic surgery at Albert Einstein College. Currently she is a medical researcher at USC/Keck Medical School.

“I was in the Academy, but I didn’t graduate with the Academy. I wish I had stayed in the Academy because there are a lot of opportunities and it is amazing to connect with people and to be exposed to different fields, such as this Health Career Night event,” said Daneshgaran. “Orenda Tuason provides a lot of opportunities to the students such as internships, etc., through her connections. Having lots of connections helps.”

Orenda Tuason is a clinical microbiologist/laboratory scientist, CVHS teacher and Academy of Science and Medicine coordinator who organized the Health Career Night with the assistance of Alamelu Arunachalam and Vero Coba. The Academy leadership also helped with setup, cleanup, and organization.

Faith Nicoll, the sophomore vice president, said, “The Academy is a great opportunity to meet people and have new experiences. You have an array of new classes that are super cool. At Health Career Night it was interesting to see the different pathways people followed.”

Nicoll said the first she heard about the Academy was when she was in Tuason’s medical biology class as a freshman.

“My friends and I decided that it would be a great idea to join and, after hearing about the opportunity to be sophomore vice president, I knew it was the right choice for me.”

“At Health Career Night, I learned about how many opportunities and careers there are in the medical fields. I thought the most interesting was nursing and the pediatric surgeon, Dr. Kasper Wang, who works at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles,” said Molly Fleischer, a sophomore, of the night. “I have always found the topic of surgery interesting. I thought it was cool hearing about what they do at work day to day. I also learned how you make a strong connection when being a nurse.”

The next CVHS Academy event that all Academy members are required to attend is the Academy banquet held at the end of the school year to celebrate the Academy’s achievements during the school year and to honor the Academy seniors. The Academy also provides monthly field trips, movies and weekly lunch presentations. Next month, a field trip will be taken to Adventist Health.

For Academy events, check out the Academy calendar posted on the CVHS website at http://www.cvacademy.50megs.com/calendar.html. The recruitment of new Academy members continues through March 15.

  Lori BODNAR