Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University will launch Wolfpack: Health Fellows Academy, a three-year pilot project to engage 120 students with intensive, immersive educational experiences leading to heightened awareness of healthcare careers, personal wellness, and community health beginning Summer 2024 thanks to the BCBSLA Foundation funding of $110,000.
HFA is designed for high school students from communities defined by low quality-of-life metrics, including healthcare access/outcomes and low participation rates in post-secondary education. Goals include increasing the number of capable and highly motivated high school students interested in entering and completing healthcare-related studies; expanding career and educational choices of under resourced, diverse high school students; and supporting the personal health of each Fellow and the members of their communities.
“We’re excited to support this partnership between FranU and BRYC to help open doors to healthcare professions for more students. This kind of hands-on experience and support helps meet the demands of the healthcare workforce shortage, while also paving the way for diversity in the field,” said Chloé Wiley, the Blue Cross Foundation’s initiatives manager.
Beginning this summer, HFA will annually host two cohorts of rising sophomores and juniors for a week-long intensive, hands-on learning experience on FranU’s campus. Fellows will be introduced to various healthcare careers, including but not limited to in Radiologic Technology, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Nutritional Sciences, Respiratory Therapy, and Applied Behavior Analysis.
Participants will interact with healthcare professionals and participate in simulation exercises. At the end of each summer week-long intensive experience, each cohort will assist in administering free health screenings to family members and others at a community health fair sponsored by HFA healthcare partners. The service to be offered twice each summer in North Baton Rouge. Fellows will also attend four bi-monthly workshops from September to March that would include engaged learning experiences such as field trips, expert panels and speaker presentations.
Beginning fall 2025, FranU will begin to offer dual-enrollment courses for juniors and seniors from the summer cohorts who are interested in earning college credit, building upon what was learned during the summer program.
Interdisciplinary courses such as introduction to health professions, mathematics, biology, chemistry, or other first year college level courses, will be offered during fall and spring semesters. To complete the academy and earn a college scholarship, fellows must complete the summer program, attend all four workshops from the summer, and pass at least one dual-enrollment course.
Alicia Bates, director of the FranU program said that representation matters. “When we have a more diverse and culturally competent healthcare workforce, we can better serve and care for all individuals who live within in our local communities.”
Data from Peterson KFF Health System Tracker between January 2017 and June 2023 shows that health sector employment remains below trends seen before the pandemic, particularly for elderly care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health, and outpatient care centers.
FranU will provide campus resources/personnel and will cover most tuition expenses, representing a total investment of $248,250. Baton Rouge Youth Coalition will recruit students to HFA and will provide individual student support such as academic tutoring, college test prep and data tracking.
Another key program partner, the Baton Rouge Clinic, will provide scholarships and the community health fairs through a $40,000 investment and staff support. Both the Baton Rouge General and Our Lady of the Lake Health (OLOL) have committed to personnel and facilities support, and OLOL has made a commitment of $20,000 to support tuition for dual enrolled courses.
Bates concluded, “I am thankful for the partnerships that FranU has with BCBS, BRYC and the Baton Rouge Clinic. Together, we can educate the future healthcare workforce of Louisiana, while making a lasting and positive impact on the health and welfare of our Louisiana citizens for decades to come.”