SAN BENITO — Some days, one of the first faces they saw was that of Jestin Sauceda.
He and other students from the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District would come to Windsor Atrium Rehabilitation Center in Harlingen to perform their clinicals.
Part of a four-year journey through the district’s Health Sciences program, clinicals were required to earn their credential as a certified nurse’s assistant.
“The majority of the patients there were elderly,” said Jestin, 18. “I would help feed them, and I would take them to the waiting room so they could interact with each other. We would change them as well.”
Jestin is one of 51 students in the San Benito Health Science Technology Program who were awarded certifications Tuesday in five health science fields, including emergency medical technician, medical office assistant and medical assistant.
“This is the largest number of students we’ve had,” said Hector Rendon, director of the school district’s Career and Technology Education program. The Health Sciences Technology program is at least 10 years old, he said.
“We have the Health Sciences program beginning in the 9th grade,” Rendon said. “It’s a four-year program.”
During the first three years, students in the program learn medical terminology, health science technology and principals of health science. They also visit hospitals and nursing homes and then ambulances.
“They have a health science practicum,” Rendon said. “They practice being in a hospital room setting, changing linens while the patients are still there.”
Medicine was once a rather simple affair, at least by our standards. However, development of wound care, hygiene, trauma care, cardiology and germ theory have advanced medicine considerably.
The field of medicine has proliferated into many different fields, as reflected by the various certifications offered through San Benito’s program.
Students have a choice of numerous pathways to the medical field, and Laura Leon is working on her second certification as a medical assistant. She received her medical office assisting certification with her classmates on Tuesday.
As a medical office assistant, Laura, 18, knows how to work with billing and insurance.
“Medical assistant is helping more with the doctor, like taking vitals and setting up for the doctor,” she said. “If he’s going to do a certain test you set up a tray for the doctor so it will be ready for him.”
She recently did her clinicals in wound care.
“I was able to see different types of wounds, and I was able to administer creams and help out with dressings,” said Laura, who hopes to be a physical therapist.
Jestin saw his share of heartache while working at the Atrium.
“You see the patients, and you can tell they’re kind of sad because they don’t really have anybody,” he said. “I have a heart of giving.”
He would eventually like to become a trauma surgeon in the U.S. Army. First he’d like to study psychology at the University of Houston and then transfer to a university in Dallas or San Antonio to become a registered nurse.
“If the trauma surgeon in the Army doesn’t work out, I’d like to become a physician’s assistant,” he said.
