Transcript
Dr. Sherri Wilson: There is a national push right now and we're seeing that in our conversations with employers to really engage students very early to grow their talent pipeline and as early as middle school. And we do have programs that allow students to observe and shadow what it's like and what they can be in those spaces.
Kevin P. Chavous: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 9 percent of total employment in the United States is within the healthcare industry. In fact, there are about 1.8 million openings in healthcare projected each and every year. With the continuous need for healthcare workers, many students are pursuing careers in that field.
What are the benefits of a career in health care? How can students get health care experience while still in school? And what opportunities are available for students interested in this career path?
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Companies are looking for innovative solutions and we are well positioned to do that. They see that we have an untapped opportunity with our students to build their talent stream. And we're preparing students with the skills and the certifications in order to do that.
Kevin P. Chavous: This is what I want to know. And today I'm joined by Dr. Sherri Wilson. Dr. Sherri Wilson is the Director of Partnership Development at Stride Incorporated, where she lends her expertise to enhance the company's health science career pathways. She also establishes national partnerships that lead to employment and post secondary opportunities for students. She joins us today to discuss how we can support students who want to pursue healthcare careers.
Dr. Wilson, welcome to the show. I am really excited to chat with you. And, you know, I've known you for a long time since you work at the company, but I also started doing some research and one of the things I was just amazed to find out is your mother was a hidden figure.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Yes, she was.
Kevin P. Chavous: I mean, literally, you know, my wife and I saw that movie. We were blown away as was America, because we all know the story about how many folks of color worked in the background, had the technical expertise to help not just get the space program off the ground, but many of the major achievements we've made in this country, get some of those things off the ground. And, so just talk a little bit about that influence on you to know that your mother had this impact at NASA. And what an inspiration that must have been.
Dr. Sherri Wilson:Oh, yes, just I'm just fortunate to be part of her legacy. When we were younger, my sisters and I, my mother tried to tell us about her story. And you know, we really did not realize the impact until as you mentioned, the movie came out and I was watching a preview of the movie. And I said, "Mom, I think you told us about a time when you..." She said, "I didn't think you wanted to hear it." And I said, "Well, we're all ears now." And so we made her pull out all of her awards and artifacts from that time and I told our pastor and the next thing we knew everything was on the news, sharing her story and just really fortunate to know that she's being recognized for this work now. She and many other women have laid the foundation, of course, the late Dr. Catherine Johnson was the first, and she laid the groundwork for women like my mother to follow. And so these women at that time were human computers and...
Kevin P. Chavous: Pretty amazing.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: And my mother in particular calculated vehicle trajectories coming from the spacecraft. And she was responsible for those simulations and each simulation she built did about 20 simulations and had a perfect score for all of those test runs. So her work is documented in the Smithsonian and we're just so proud. We're just so proud of her and I'm proud to be part of her legacy.
Kevin P. Chavous: Well, and you mentioned legacy, Sherri, I know you and I know your work, you have done an amazing job promoting not just careers in healthcare, but also how one should conduct oneself while engaged in the practice of providing healthcare to our citizens and you chose the nursing profession. You're president of the Virginia Nurses Association. How were you drawn to that profession? What led you to really want to embark on a career in nursing?
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Thank you for that question, Kevin. So I come from a family of nurses. My grandmother was a nurse. I have aunts and I have grandparents that were midwives. But when I was in high school, I participated in a program called the Medical Explorers, and we had an opportunity, these were students, high school students who were interested in the healthcare field, whatever that was, and we had the opportunity to shadow medical professionals on one day. I had the opportunity to shadow an operating room nurse. And, with permission, I was able to observe a surgery and just observing the caring behaviors of the nurse and the relationship that she built with the patient as well as the family really had an impact on me. And also growing up in New Jersey, which is our nation's most densely populated state, and having navigating those spaces in healthcare and education really shaped my philosophy on access to quality healthcare and education. And I saw nursing as an opportunity to really make an impact on several levels.
Kevin P. Chavous: Let's talk about the state of healthcare. One of the main reasons why I wanted you to come on is to chat a little bit about opportunities in health care for our young, this school to career phenomenon which is taking on renewed emphasis around the country. It used to be in schools that, you know, we really focused on the ABCs, reading, writing, counting, and the like. And career was almost viewed as something that you get to when you finish the academic portion of your educational experience. But as you know, now it's all intertwined. I mean, many young people have a better idea of what they want to do. And plus, with some of the skill development and the socialization skills that take place when you're in certain career pathways while in school, it's been highly beneficial, not just for the students, but the employers, specifically as it relates to healthcare, Sherri, talk a little bit about the changes you've seen, because if there's one area I say education is one, but the other one is health care, where there has been dramatic shifts in how we deliver health care, the role of doctors and nurses, some of the expectations, insurance companies, a lot has changed over the last, you know, 5, 10, 15 years. Talk about your observations with respect to those changes, particularly from a nursing perspective.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Absolutely. So I've been a nurse for over 25 years and worked in many different settings, hospital, ambulatory care, government, public health, nonprofit, and have definitely seen the changes over the decade. I would say, as you know, technology is a driving force. And it is really transforming the way we do business in healthcare. And companies are really looking at innovative ways to grow their workforce and healthcare in particular. And so there is such an opportunity right now in healthcare, nursing in particular, but healthcare is the fastest growing profession with many opportunities. And so companies are looking for innovative solutions and we are well positioned to do that. They see that we have an untapped opportunity with our students to build their talent stream. And we're preparing students with the skills and the certifications in order to do that.
Kevin P. Chavous: Yeah, I want to talk about your role with Stride, as you are the director of partnership development. And to your point, Sherri, there are nearly 2 million jobs available in healthcare every single year. And many of those jobs go unfilled. And I, and frankly, I remember as it relates to nursing, when I was doing some work up with Joe Klein in New York when he was Chancellor of New York Public Schools, I remember him telling me that New York City, and since you're from New Jersey, you probably had heard this and you probably know it because of your work. They were recruiting nurses from the Philippines and from Asia because they didn't have enough people enrolled in nursing school in the States. And I found that so hard to believe. Is that still a challenge? School in the States. And I found that so hard to believe. Is that still a challenge?
Dr. Sherri Wilson: It is still a challenge. And so a few of the drivers of course are an aging workforce in nursing. So nurses now are looking at retirement. And then there is also a shortage of nursing educators. And in order to have the capacity to produce the next generation of nurses, we need nurses. There was a burnout among nurses and leaving the profession. So it's multifactorial. But there's definitely a need also the aging population is driving, of course, opportunities in the field. So there is still a great job outlook for nurses and I'm so excited that we have so much interest in our company for students that are interested in nursing and health care.
Kevin P. Chavous: What's interesting, I see the parallels between education and health care in terms of sort of the incredible changes, as you mentioned, driven by technology and also the changes in both areas in terms of, you know, professional development and recruitment. One of the things, we talked about burnout after COVID, we've seen similar burnout in the K through 12 education space among teachers. And as I've had teachers come on to talk about that from various teachers of the year and various folks who are involved in the teaching profession, they talk about new ways to attract young people to teaching, to sort of fill the gap because of the aging workforce and to let them know what's possible in the teaching profession. So it taps into the interests, what kind of things are being done to let young people know that nursing is a viable and even a beneficial profession for those who choose it.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Oh, absolutely. So there's so many initiatives happening right now. First there's early awareness opportunities. And I'll just talk a little bit about what we're doing here at stride, but there are so many other things. We have a national nursing club, soon to be nursing explorers and started that about three years ago during the pandemic to really get students interested and involved. And we were just so surprised about the reaction. We had hundreds of students that were interested and we continue to grow. So we have the nursing club, which is an early awareness program. And what that means is every month we center diverse nurses from across the country and they share their experiences about the profession, what it's like students have a chance to ask questions. We also have a nursing camp, we just wrapped up our nursing camp this last week and we have another one coming up next week as well. So again, for early awareness. And then there are dual enrollment programs for students that are interested in nursing connected with colleges and universities. So students, if they're interested, they can take course of pre nursing courses as early as junior year in a nursing program and that can accelerate their trajectory to becoming a nurse. There's also certifications that students can earn that give them a leg up, if you will. So it exposes them to the field of nursing and healthcare. So they may not want to be a nurse, but there's other opportunities. Like if they want to be a phlebotomist, medical assistant. And so, these are valuable skills and certifications that students can earn and help them if they're interested in becoming a nurse.
Kevin P. Chavous: You know, what's interesting is that it's amazing to me how many young people take to these career and skill development opportunities. And you mentioned, you know, the nursing program pathway as early as junior in high school, but even some of these middle school kids, just by introducing them to the concept of what a certain career is like in real time and having them interact with folks in the profession to hear about a nurse here from a nurse who talks about his or her day and what they do, it's made a huge difference. Talk about the perspective of the employers because one of your roles as director of partnership development is to find partners out there, you know folks who in a health care industry nursing profession talk about the perspective of these employers and the benefit they see in having young people be introduced to these opportunities at an early age.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Oh, absolutely. There is a national push right now. And we're seeing that in our conversations with employers to really engage students very early to grow their talent pipeline. And as early as middle school. And we do have programs that allow students to observe and shadow what it's like and what they can be in those spaces. And it's very inspiring to students to have that experience and then have the opportunity to take classes. So they can take healthcare exploration classes as early at in middle school. And then if they find something that they like, they can begin to take courses in that particular healthcare pathway
Kevin P. Chavous: You know, your work is Stride, with the career pathway development that's taking place. It's all over the country. Have you found any regions of the country where there's more of an acute need for these programs? Are you finding that it's almost becoming a universal acceptance type of thing where the more people hear about it, the more they sort of respond.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Oh, absolutely. It's definitely a national focus. There are some particular areas, some of our Southern states and some of our Midwest states, particularly as it relates to nursing, where shortages are anticipated. And so really concentrating in those areas, but we're looking at it from a national perspective. And we have a number of opportunities coming up where we're working with employers. We have career expos. And so we just had one not too long ago with several employers that were interested in speaking to and connecting with our students. So this year we have another set of expos which is centered around what we call our three E's, which is and those three E's are employment. So connecting students with employment opportunities. So we have a number of employers that we will be working with that will be in the spring enrollment, connecting students to post secondary enrollment experiences and opportunities. And that's coming up in the fall and enlistment. So we have students that are interested in the armed forces and connecting them with those opportunities. So healthcare in all of those three E's, it will be highly represented as well as other pathways that students are enrolled in. as well as, uh, other pathways, uh, that students are enrolled [00:20:00] in.
Kevin P. Chavous: So, Sherri, I have one last question. This is what I really want to know. And that is, there are a lot of school administrators or leaders listening, there are parents who are listening to this show and they may wonder how do you get started with the idea of creating some type of introductory program to young people who may be interested in health care. So, the question I have is, how do schools start to at least begin that process of introducing kids to health care? To this potential career opportunity.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: So one of the things that really helps is having an advisory council. So many of our schools have advisory councils with employers from the various sectors that provide input on the job outlook for various jobs in those particular regions. And so that helps with connecting students with those opportunities and building those partnerships. So, one of the big pieces is having those advisory groups or advisory councils for the schools that help to drive those experiences for students.
Kevin P. Chavous: That makes a lot of sense because oftentimes in education, you know, educators have their view of how things should get started. Sometimes there's a disconnect between, you know, the theoretical and the practical, what really is happening on the ground. And to have those advisors makes a lot of sense. Sherri Wilson, look, you're doing amazing work, not just a stride, but you're doing work for a growing number of young people who are interested in healthcare profession, keep doing what you're doing and thanks for joining us on what I want to know.
Dr. Sherri Wilson: Thank you, Kevin. Thanks for having me.
Kevin P. Chavous: Thanks for listening to What I Want to Know. Be sure to follow and subscribe to the show on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. So you can explore other episodes and dive into our discussions on the future of education and write a review of the show. I also encourage you to join the conversation and let me know what you want to know using hashtag WIWTK on social media. That's hashtag WIWTK. For more information on stride and online education, visit stridelearning.com. I'm your host, Kevin P. Chavous. Thank you for joining What I Want to Know.
Meet Dr. Wilson
Dr. Sherri Wilson is the Director of Partnership Development at Stride, Inc., where she lends her expertise to enhance the company’s health science career pathways and establishes national partnerships that lead to employment and postsecondary opportunities for students.
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What I Want to Know
In this podcast, you will hear from leaders in education as we talk through learning solutions for homeschool, online school, education pathways, and topics tailored specifically to online students and parents.
