Academy of Health Sciences

The AOHS curriculum begins in the freshman year with two introductory courses, “Health Careers Explorations” semester 1 and “Global Health” semester 2. Health Careers Exploration is a survey course designed to introduce students to a broad spectrum of health careers. The course covers careers from the five pathways: diagnostic services, therapeutic services, health informatics, support services, and biotechnology research and development. For each career they study, students examine the main tasks and challenges of professionals in that career, the treatments they administer, and the interaction those professionals have with other professionals. Students learn about the educational requirements and the employment and salary outlook for each career, and they evaluate how their own skills, abilities, and interests align with different careers. Where possible, students will be provided opportunities to hear speakers, make college visits and experience hands- on learning activities at the Museum of Science and Industry’s Open Heart Lab 101. Students will also visit Argonne Laboratory for “Ask a Scientist.”

As a culminating project, students apply what they learn about health careers to create an in-depth pamphlet that informs patients who have a particular disease about the health care professionals who are likely to contribute to their care. The pamphlets are public health tools that can be made available to patients when they are diagnosed with the disease. Students stage a public health fair at the end of the project where they present their pamphlets to an invited audience of health care professionals and school administrators as well as other students, friends, and family members. The driving question for the project is, “How can we as a team of consultants best inform patients with a articular disease about the professionals who will contribute to their care?”.

In alignment with the curriculum here at Luther North College Prep, there is an added component of service learning. Students will be asked to donate their time to various activities. Currently AOHS is collecting donations of gently used teen and adult clothes, glasses, board games, and family oriented DVD’s. These will be donated to Illinois Masonic’s Behavior Health Units.

The Academy model being implemented at LNCP is designed to reflect high academic and industry standards. Each academy offers a four-year sequenced curriculum that provides a broad understanding of the field and links to strong core academics. The academies stress project-based course work in small learning communities in “schools-within-a-school” and offer mentoring by business professionals, job shadowing and paid internships.

January 2013
We are off and running! Africa week was a success. The Academy of Business and Academy of Health Sciences were engaged in problem based learning activities focusing on the question, “How can they cost-effectively treat and prevent malaria in Africa?”. Activities ranged from figuring the statistics of affected cities to playing dodgeball malaria games. Problem based learning has set the tone for second semester in the Academy of Health Sciences.
In the AOHS our focus this semester is global health. Global health introduces students to public health on a global scale. Students learn what disease is and investigate how it impacts world populations. By studying different societies, they learn about the relationship between health and socioeconomic development. Students learn how environmental, nutritional, and behavioral risk factors jeopardize health. And then they learn how communities, the government, and cooperative global efforts can intervene to improve health. Wherever possible, students first study each concept as it applies to their own community, and then they look at it in a more global context. In many lessons, students practice deciphering and interpreting the data they find in tables, charts, graphs, and maps. Students are exposed to working with information compiled by the foremost global health agencies, such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, and UNICEF. At the conclusion of the course, students have a chance to explore what it would be like to have a career in global health.

We have the following field trips scheduled as well:
April 16 MSI: Live from the Heart
April 19 Argonne Lab tour
April 24 College tour: Elmhurst College.

Click here to download the NAF Academy of Health Sciences Curriculum PDF.
Click here to download the Academy of Health Sciences PDF.