Building futures for St Peters Students
On Monday 29 October, five Year 11 St Peters students attended the Wesley Healthcare Careers Day. Accompanied by the College Careers Counsellor, Jacquelene Estevao, the students joined a host of other schools to experience a day in the life of a healthcare worker at The Wesley Hospital. Here, they share their reflections.
Khushbu K, Year 11
The Wesley Healthcare Careers Day was a fantastic experience. I am glad that I received the opportunity to be a part of it. My highlight of the day was the rotation of activities, which ranged from baby care to injections and drugs, fluid balance and CPR practice. We also got to hear from several healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and speech pathologists. These people described the journey into their professions and shared stories of what occurs during a typical day at work.
Personally, I had a great time as I had the opportunity to experience the hospital in a different way. This included observing the simple things, such as the chime that rings throughout the hospital when a baby is born, or the blue code to indicate an emergency. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and I would recommend such work experiences and career days to all students. These days are incredibly educative and beneficial as they help you to learn more about prospective professions.
Christopher M, Year 11
I enjoyed my trip to The Wesley as there are not many other ways for people interested in studying medicine and nursing to have a look behind the scenes at a working hospital. St Peters provided me with an opportunity to take a closer look at what I’m interested in studying after I leave school. The day involved talks from many doctors and staff, and also practical experiences in areas like basic life support, injections and drugs, manual handling and more. Overall the day was fun, informative and worthwhile. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a healthcare career.
Daniel S, Year 11
The Dalai Lama once said that love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. My time with The Wesley Hospital staff has shown me that not only do they embody this philosophy there, but that they champion the importance of our humanity in the face of increasing autonomy. Technological miracles—such as robotic surgery—are founded upon the age-old principle of ‘do no harm’. One does not have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy is sufficient.
Isabella O, Year 11
The Wesley Hospital Careers Day opened my eyes to what my life will hopefully become. It was a great experience to see how the many different pathways of the hospital make a community. The highlight of my day was listening to the nurse as she talked about both bad and good things, but how she saw both as an experience of good. She explained that even the bad had a good side to it and, to illustrate this, she told a story of a homeless man who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She said that she’d stayed with him until he passed—the way she explained it was with a feeling of love and passion, because she knew she was helping him. Once the day was finished I knew that nursing is what I am meant to do in the future.
Lachlan C, Year 11
I found the Wesley Healthcare Careers Day helpful in providing insight into a field of work that I am considering. The highlight of my day was the talk by the palliative care worker, who discussed in detail the ethics of euthanasia. Before the talk, I had a very black and white view on the subject however, this has very much changed. The talk made me consider that there are many factors involved in such a complicated issue. I would recommend the experience to anyone who has even the slightest interest in the healthcare industry.
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The Wesley Healthcare Careers Day has run in previous years, though this year a change was trialled. Rather than offering a four-day program to a limited number of students, they instead introduced one full day, packed with insightful opportunities, so that more students could attend. The day proved to be extremely valuable. It is our hope that St Peters students will again be able to take part next year.
For more information about St Peters work experience programs, please contact the Careers Counsellor, Jacquelene Estevao: j.estevao@stpeters.qld.edu.au.
