About a hundred Girl Scouts from eastern Iowa and western Illinois will be learning first-hand about careers in science and health care in Iowa City this weekend. Heidi Nobiling is an administrator at University of Iowa Hospitals which is hosting its third annual Women in Science event.
Nobiling says, "We put it together to try and expose young girls at a relatively early age and early enough in their educational paths that they think about careers in science and health care technology and that they will chose the right educational progression to prepare them for those careers." She says the event, from 1-4 p.m.today, will allow the girls to sample a variety of potential career paths which they might otherwise have never considered.
One group will be visiting the ambulatory surgery center to see the setup of an operating room and learn about how surgery is done, while others will work directly with physicians, from ophthalmologists to anesthesiologists. Another group will visit a respiratory therapy lab and get to see the new computerized patient simulators. Nobiling, a former Girl Scout, says it’s her third year of taking part in the program and she finds it very rewarding to see the girls get excited when new doors are opened to them.
Nobiling says: "They’ll be exposed to different types of careers and people that are working in those specific careers will share information with them about what it’s like to work in that field and what they need to focus on in school to pursue a career in that field." The girls on the trip will be as young as sixth graders and as old as seniors in high school.