FUTURE LEADERS

Students from the Academy of the Holy Names in Albany, La Salle Institute in Troy, Catholic Central School in Latham and Saratoga Central Catholic School participated in a recent healthcare workshop sponsored by the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. (Photo provided)

The Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is helping to build the next generation of healthcare workers — and Albany’s Catholic schools are here to help. 

On Friday, March 15, ACPHS offered its first Future of Healthcare Workshop, an opportunity for local high schoolers to spend a day on ACPHS’ campus learning and exploring the various opportunities available in the healthcare field.

St. Peter’s Health Partners staff were also onsite to inform and educate students about the variety of careers available in the healthcare field. Students heard from SPHP’s talent acquisition team and were able to ask clinical staff questions about their work.

Wendy Diefendorf, director of admissions for ACPHS, hoped that the program would help showcase the benefits of the college while also driving home the importance of healthcare — especially as the Capital District faces shortages in the field.

“We thought this was a beautiful marriage between our school and St. Peter’s,” Diefendorf said. “They need employees and we are an institute that educates the people they need.”

The workshop welcomed nearly 150 students from grades 9-11, all of whom were nominated by school administrators for having expressed an interest in healthcare. The workshop included students from the Academy of the Holy Names in Albany, La Salle Institute in Troy, Catholic Central School in Latham and Saratoga Central Catholic School. 

“We are so very proud to have students from Saratoga Central Catholic invited to participate in this amazing opportunity in the Capital Region,” said Nichole Mulkern, school counselor at Saratoga Central Catholic. “These students are our future healthcare leaders!”

“It’s a great opportunity for the students,” said Anne Marie McGarry, director of college counseling for Academy of the Holy Names. “I know these (nominated) students will definitely go down the health-field trajectory, so I don’t want them to be stuck in just pharmacy or nursing or the things they hear all the time. I know the Albany College of Pharmacy offers more than that, so it would be a great educational tool for them to learn more.”

Diefendorf noted that the school received so many nominations they’re hoping to offer the workshop again. 

“I was absolutely thrilled to see so many nominations,” Diefen­dorf said. “Let’s face it, we all need healthcare workers. If we can play a role in helping to provide healthcare workers for the Capital Region, I can’t think of a better way to do that.”