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Academy Students Practice Pediatric Care

Academy Students Practice Pediatric Care

Medical Assisting Students Learn Nuances of Working with Young Children

 

Clinical Medical Assisting students at Milliken Tech collaborated with classmates in the Early Childhood Education Program to gain firsthand experience working with three-year-olds. The Medical Assisting students took the height and weight of the youngsters and had them read an eye chart. To make them feel less intimidated, they helped the preschoolers bandage their stuffed animals, color, and play the classic board game, Operation.

This exercise exposed them to working with small children in a clinical setting for the first time. “They realized the importance of getting them to cooperate without intimidating them,” said Michelle Burton, Clinical Medical Assisting teacher. “That’s why we provided other activities to lighten the mood and allow the children to warm up to the older students working as medical staff.”

According to Burton, students often think that it will be fun to work with young children but don’t realize the challenges it presents compared with adolescents and adults. Providing her students with the opportunity to interact with youngsters in a professional setting allows them to experience how reserved and scared some preschoolers can be of adults.

The Eastern Long Island Academy of Applied Technology, referred to as the Academy, is the Career and Technical Education Program of Eastern Suffolk BOCES and has locations in Bellport, Oakdale, and Riverhead. Milliken Tech is located on the Oakdale campus.