Baptist Health Sciences University (BHSU) HealthCORE held its second annual SHE (Science, Health, Empowerment) Leads the Way event on Monday, Oct. 23. SHE Leads the Way promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields to middle school, high school and college students and offers networking, mentoring and educational opportunities to help create a pipeline into health care careers for students from underrepresented populations.
This year, the expanded experience included a virtual-only option and two in-person host sites that offered a simultaneous keynote speaker, followed by an interactive, hands-on experience. BHSU and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Leake served as the two in-person host sites. More than 100 people attended the event, which is designed to introduce young women to the world of science and health care through empowerment.
BHSU HealthCORE proudly presented the keynote speaker, Erica Plybeah, CEO and founder of MedHaul, a platform for locating and scheduling transportation for vulnerable patient populations.
“During the two-hour event, students met with our keynote speaker, Erica Plybeah, who is a success story in health care as a clinical informaticist and technology entrepreneur. Students learned about her inspiring journey and engaged in an interactive escape room experience at their local host site,” said Briana Jegier, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of health administration and public health at BHSU. “The interactive activity was a new addition this year. We had a lot of fun partnering with our colleagues across the Baptist system to create a portable experience that could be delivered locally.”
Professor Jegier serves as BHSU HealthCORE co-chair along with Lilian Nyindodo, Ph.D., MPH, chair and associate professor of biomedical sciences at Baptist University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“SHE Leads the Way is part of our effort to engage the community and show young people how to navigate becoming a professional in health care and STEM and to connect them with the resources and mentors they need to accomplish their goals,” noted Professor Nyindodo.
BHSU HealthCORE is supported by Baptist Memorial Health Care Community Outreach and Engagement. Cynthia Bradford, system community involvement manager; Abby Brann, system community involvement coordinator; and Ann Marie Wallace, system senior community involvement coordinator, are a driving force behind all HealthCORE programming and serve as part of the HealthCORE advisory board.
The next HealthCORE event is the second annual Tennessee Health Careers Summit & Expo on Thursday, Nov. 9 on the BHSU campus. To learn more about HealthCORE and to register for upcoming events, click here.
