COOPERSTOWN _ Eight Otsego County students who spent a majority of their senior years at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital were recognized during a farewell program Wednesday at the Clark Auditorium.
Each year, a select number of local high school students participate in the New Visions Health Professions Program, an opportunity offered by Bassett Healthcare and the Otsego-Northern Catskill BOCES that allows students to complete their senior year in a medical setting.
For the past year, instead of taking the bus to their hometown school, the students boarded a bus to Bassett Hospital.
There, on a typical day, they took classes and interacted with health care professionals and other students for science-based learning and shadowing opportunities.
The 2009 New Visions students are Jonathan Graham and Remi Misiewicz from Cherry Valley-Springfield, Jacob Fenno and Robert Harmon from Cooperstown, April McGrath, Brandi Schaeffer and Jacqueline Young from Laurens, and Leita Powers from Worcester.
Some students also took classes at their home school, and others participated in sports or band.
Wednesday's program allowed the students an opportunity to present information on topics they researched, including brain age versus real age, runners' arches and injuries, facial symmetry, dirty lettuce, Stroop effect and age, among others.
Instructor Cheryl Boise, a certified high-school science teacher, said the ``experience gives them an interesting glimpse into many health care careers. And it's a terrific transition year between high school and college."
Harmon said he had ``always known that I wanted to someday work in a health care profession, but this program really opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities that I never even knew existed before.''
He said he is interested in anesthesiology or emergency medicine.
New Visions Health Professions Program students qualify by having an average grade of 85 or more, and they must have three units of math, three units of science and an interest in a career in health care. Students must also obtain recommendations from their guidance counselor or superintendent.
For more information, call Boise at 547-3674.
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