This last week, the Alliance High School Health Professions club found their way to Lincoln to attend the Bryan Health Discovery Day. The group of fourteen girls, from sophomores to seniors, plus three supervisors participated in many activities both recreational and educational.

The group left Alliance early Wednesday morning to start off their trip in order to make it to the Nebraska Heart Hospital. They toured around the hospital and in the process they were able to see an open-heart surgery, the patient’s rooms, the CAT scan room, among many other things. The facility was beautiful, and the staff was exceptionally kind and helpful when one of the students had a question.

The group left the hospital and got a tour of Memorial Stadium with an Alliance native Randy York. The group was mesmerized by the beauty of the stadium and all of the history at the heart of the Husker Nation.

The next morning the group went to Bryan College of Health Sciences. They had the opportunity to attend four of nine sessions. The sessions were Biomedical Electronics, Cardiovascular Technology, Medical Laboratory, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy/ Speech, Radiology, Respiratory Therapy, and StarCare Emergency Services. For the group the Respiratory Therapy and Nursing was very popular. Sophomore Cayla Tritle said, “The Respiratory Therapy was my favorite, the hands on activities really made it fun.” In the Respiratory Therapy session, workers put the students in a vest that filled with air and started shaking to get the mucus in the lungs lose for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Some of the students laughed and thought it was fine, others thought differently. Alliance was by far the school that traveled the farthest. One of the instructors said, “I’ve been trying to get the kids on the eastern side of the state to realize Nebraska doesn’t end at Grand Island.” That got a good laugh from the western Nebraska natives.

The trip provided information that might be vital to the future of the students. They learned a lot, but also had fun.