Kansas high school students come to KU Medical Center campus to learn more about careers in health care

Last month, two buses with 35 high school freshmen and sophomores from Hays High School and Lawrence Free State High School arrived at the University of Kansas Medical Center main campus in Kansas City. Their enrollment in a health sciences class included the option to make the trip to meet researchers, visit real university laboratories and learn more about health care careers.

Spending the day at the KU Medical Center campus is part of TSCORE LIFT (Teachers and Students for Community Oriented Research and Education: Linking Industry, Faculty and Teachers). The project is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award, totaling $1.3 million over five years, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“Our initial goal was to bring high school students in health career pathways to campus for broad, hands-on educational experiences,” said Maria Alonso Luaces, Ph.D., an associate professor of family medicine who, along with Carrie Francis, M.D., professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, is co-principal investigator for TSCORE LIFT at KU Medical Center. “Over time, through ongoing conversations with teachers, it became clear that to maximize instructional impact, on-site experiences needed to more intentionally reinforce and deepen what students were learning in their classrooms.”

While the program has had different goals and different iterations since it first launched, TSCORE has offered general health care exposure sessions that introduce students to a wide range of clinical and behind-the-scenes career options. “We also have expanded our model to include two curriculum-aligned, tailored experiences for teachers implementing TSCORE LIFT-developed, case-based collaborative learning,” said Luaces.

The tailored sessions provide deeper exploration and skill building around the case content, with dedicated pathways focused on diabetes or asthma, she added. “This shift ensures that students not only visit campus, but engage in high-value, case-connected learning that strengthens comprehension, clinical reasoning and real-world application,” Luaces added.

On the day of their visit, students stopped by Clendening Library to learn about the history of KU Medical Center and the discoveries made there. A walk through the simulation area in the Health Education Building allowed them to see where future health care workers pursue hands-on training in a variety of situations. The students also had an opportunity to test their laparoscopic surgery skills using special boxes with only cameras to guide their hand, and they even got to see what it feels like to drill through a bone in an orthopedic lab. Other experiences included learning how skills such as suturing are taught.

A tour at The University of Kansas Health System took them behind the scenes to see the inner workings of the security department, kitchen and mechanical facilities. There was time for reflection and questions, and while some students were obviously drawn to the idea of working in health care, each student expressed appreciation for the experience.

The program’s five-year objective is to reach more than 500 students during field trips and more than 800 through curricular intervention. Through partnerships with multiple high schools and universities throughout the state, TSCORE LIFT is able to have an impact on the development of the future health care workforce.

“In a state where many communities are medical deserts, Kansas needs programs that spark early interest and prepare students to become the providers their communities lack,” Luaces said. “TSCORE LIFT does this by aligning schools, universities and industry to create meaningful pathways that build a sustainable homegrown workforce, expand opportunity and strengthen health care across the state.”

Students who participate in the program do so as part of a health sciences class, though they are early in the process of deciding a career path. One of the teachers making the trip was Daniel Dickerson, who has brought students from Hays High School to visit KU Medical Center five times so far.

Dickerson said the students who chose to make the trip from Hays to Kansas City had to leave on a bus at 4:30 that morning. “The trip is optional, but I was glad to see most students made the choice to attend,” he added.

Luaces noted that the goals of TSCORE LIFT are broad, and the point is students’ sustained interest in health care, increased enrollment in rigorous health-science courses and higher rates of enrollment in postsecondary health programs. “Ultimately, success is measured by graduates returning to serve in their home communities and helping address Kansas’ health care workforce needs,” she said.