Grade 12 CO-OP placement - advice?

[meddyaddict]

Hey yall, was wondering if you think a co-op placement at a hospital would be beneficial for a high school student hoping to enter the health care field. My courses next year as of right now are:

 

PhysicsU

ChemU

BioU

EngU

Advanced Functions

Calculus

French

 

That's 7, thus I arrive at a bit of a problem. If I want a co-op placement I will have to drop one of my courses. Logical choice is French, but it's not that easy for me b/c i've taken it all throughout high school and supposedly I get a certificate or something if I complete 4 years of it. Anywho, that's why I'm hesitant to drop it.

 

What do yall think? Any of you do co-op at a hospital? Experiences, advice, opinions, insight = very much welcome:D

[charmer08]

Take one of the courses during the summer.

[kbox]

hey, I did a co-op placement during high school in a hospital and found it very helpful for figuring out what I wanted to do. However, a lot of it depends on who you get as a supervisor and how much they are willing to let you do/see

[DanInVan]

I did co-op at a hospital back in grade 12. It was an AMAZING experience. I can't say enough good things about it. I was paired with an OB/GYN. At first I just shadowed on appointments and helped his secretary when she needed it. But as time went on, I got to observe surgeries and deliveries and even assist with some appointments (basic things like taking blood pressure, measuring the uterus, etc). It was such a cool experience...I would buzz for days after deliveries!

 

He also let me shadow the labour and delivery nurses for a week (gave me a whole other point of view and gave me a lot more respect for them!). While he was on vacation, I got to do some rotations with his friends (a radiologist - his wife was so excited she made us muffins!, a pathologist - who let me help dissect a brain with Alzheimers, an anesthesiologist - so stereotypical, and the OB ultrasound tech). I'm sure not every co-op experience is like this, but it was soooo awesome!

 

My co-op was 8 years ago now, and I still think back to it and how much I learned during that time. If you have the option to do it - DO IT. I had to give up French for mine. But I don't use that much anyway. If nothing else, you will have some great experiences to write about/talk about when applying to med.

[kbox]

In addition to the thoughts above... it gives you a lot of experiences to talk about during your med school interviews! Another 'plus' for doing co-ops!!

[runningdoc]

There are a couple of routes to go:

 

1 - Do it in a hospital. It will help with a few things. One you get a nice big chunk of experience hours for filling out your ABS. It gives you a potential in for a job beyond the school year if you do a really good job. If will really give you a better idea of what a career in medicine might be. Not that I want to dissuade anyone from going into it, but getting a first-hand view of the nitty gritty details can really cement whether you want to go into medicine or not.

 

2 - Do it in research. You might work on a project enough to get at least an acknowledgement. You get hands on experience with the research arm of science. It gives you a really awesome contact for NSERC applications after your first year if you do well. All of those things look great in an application package too.

 

3 - Do it only if you really want to. If taking French means a lot to you, don't drop it. Don't take a Co-op because you think it might boost your application. While it certainly won't hurt, you have 4 years of University where you likely will get significantly better opportunities to make a name for yourself. You can always take a course (such as the French one) in summer school, or night class if you really want the certificate too.