South Auckland students explore Health career options

Monday, April 24, 2017
South Auckland students explore Health career options

Around 50 year 12 and 13 Pasifika Health Science Academy (HSA) students spent time at Massey University’s Auckland campus exploring health careers and getting hands-on experience as part of the first Health Alliance Day.

The students, from De La Salle College, Tangaroa College and Onehunga High School, are among 300 HSA secondary school students in the South Auckland area. The high-achieving students attended interactive health programme workshops on Social Work, Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Nursing and Speech and Language Therapy.

School of Social Work lecturer Gisa Dr Moses Faleolo spoke to the students about the role social work plays in society, outlining the career paths in New Zealand and around the world.

“The exciting thing about this programme is, it’s not just about thinking and understanding what social work is all about, but it’s about putting into practice what we teach in the classrooms. It can lead to a wide range of jobs. We take the best parts of practice like psychology, sociology, cultural studies and human development, and we bring them together and apply them in a uniquely social work way.

“By doing a range of subjects in your degree, you are heading towards a range of occupational choices. You can work for the Government, or a range of non-Governmental agencies including Iwi, Pasifika and cultural services, refugee and migrant services and youth work. Social work is very broad. It involves quite a lot of skill set training, and a lot of patience, but you can see why,” Gisa Dr Faleolo said.

Massey Student Recruitment Advisor Reti Simanu says health careers for students are a brilliant option as it is one of the biggest growth sectors in New Zealand.

“Counties Manukau Health hopes these kind of high achieving students will become our future health leaders. It was gratifying to spend a day with them and to introduce them to what a health degree from Massey could help them achieve.

“We always appreciate the opportunity to bring students on campus, as they can actually see what the University looks like and get a feel for what our campus provides. Not only do they see the campus, they also get to meet our academic staff who can talk in more detail about the particular programme they teach. It’s a full university experience for the day. For all of these students, it was their first time engaging with Massey University.

“Our Nursing and Speech and Language Therapy workshops were extremely popular with the students, as they were excited by career paths they had no prior knowledge of.”

The HSA programme was launched in 2010 by Counties Manukau Health, in partnership with The Tindall Foundation. It funds the development of Health Science Academies in two South Auckland secondary schools, James Cook High School and Tangaroa College. These Academies are for Māori and Pasifika young people from year 11 to year 13.

In 2014, the Ministry of Health awarded Counties Manukau Health, in partnership with Auckland and Waitemata District Health Boards, funding to develop Pacific Health Science Academies across the Auckland region. These are based at Waitakere College, Onehunga High School and De La Salle College.

The objectives of the HSAs are to:
• Support and encourage Māori and Pasifika students to study and succeed in science, literacy and numeracy
• Support Academy schools to develop innovative models and approaches for learning

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