TPS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY
The Toledo Pre-Medical & Health Science Academy is a Toledo Public High School in partnership with community healthcare providers for students who are passionate about a career serving others in healthcare. The school will add students in the 7th and 8fh grades in the ’23-’24 school year to begin the path towards eventual careers in healthcare.
Students experience the real-world of a healthcare setting while preparing for college with classes that provide undergraduate degree credits. Located on Upton Avenue, the Academy is tuition-free including all books and supplies.
OLIVIA DUNCAN
With an interest in the medical professions kindled by a treatment experience as a young child, Olivia Duncan, a sophomore at Toledo Public Schools’ Medical Technology Academy, was drawn to the idea to enroll when her 8th grade teacher encouraged her to apply.
Olivia relates that classes. held in classrooms at the De Vilbiss Building, are academically challenging while providing her with opportunities for personal success.
Class sizes are typical, she explains, with perhaps 20 or so students, and the 3 or 4 friends she knew from middle school are now among many classmates who she has developed a bond with. “With a smaller school (now only freshman and sophomore classes, with other classes to be added in coming years) we have all come together to be closer, faster.”
Olivia’s plans are to become a labor and delivery nurse, and she wants to stay in the Toledo area. “I will earn an LPN certification and then an RN certification before I specialize,” she relates. Basic high school required classes are emphasized in the freshman and sophomore years, with classes in medical procedures, medical terminology, forensic evidence and other hands-on experiences slated for junior and senior years. College courses are also available for upper class persons.
“I would recommend our school (the TPS Medical Technology Academy) to other students as it has provided me with many opportunities to follow my interests,” Olivia states, “I’m getting a good education here and our school pushes you to achieve and to be your best.”
PARIS STEWART
Paris Stewart had family members working in the medical field when she heard about the option of attending high school at the TPS Pre-Medical & Health Science Academy.
Now a sophomore, she notes the Academy classes are definitely more rigorous and there are no behavioral prob. lems “because everyone in the classroom is motivated.”
She adds, “No one fails here unless they don’t do the work. Work hard and recognize that you are working towards a rewarding career and the staff will help you get there.”
Paris has joined clubs at the Academy including medical based clubs, and plays on sports teams – basketball, track and cross country – for her home school, Rog-ers. She plans to become a Nurse Practitioner before specializing perhaps, in neurology saving “we have had classes that studied the brain which began my interest.”
SHANE DRUYOR
Shane Druyor he is a sophomore at the Pre-Medical & Health Science Academy who developed an Interest in the medical field by watching Gray’s Anatomy. The show
“made me realize what I want to do and when I saw the Academy was an option, I applied.”
While the Academy is challenging, Shane says, ” the school is not really that hard, you just have to show yourself and others what you are here to do. The only reason
that anyone would fail is if they don’t do the work.” About the students, Shane continues, “we are a tight knit group and everyone is supportive of each other. If you know that you have an interest in the medical field, come to school here.”
Shane also participates in competitions through HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) along with other clubs.
