C.A. Johnson High becomes first Midlands school to offer Prisma Health’s MedEx Academy program

Prisma Health has expanded its MedEx Academy program to C.A. Johnson High School, which becomes the first school in the Midlands to offer the program.

MedEx Academy is a one-of-a-kind program developed to help high school and college students explore and experience various health care careers. The goal of the program is to engage students early to increase the number of health care providers in South Carolina and make employment opportunities more accessible to a diverse group of students.

For more than 10 years, the Health Sciences Center at Prisma Health has offered MedEx Academy in the Upstate. This is its first expansion to the Midlands.

“Prisma Health’s MedEx Program is partnering with C.A. Johnson High School and Richland One school district to offer shadowing at Prisma Health Richland hospital. With a workforce shortage in health care, we need team members to fulfill our mission to ‘Inspire Health, Serve with Compassion and Be the Difference,’” said Desmond Kelly, M.D., the associate chief academic officer for Prisma Health.

Prisma Health has expanded its MedEx Academy program to C.A. Johnson High School, which becomes the first school in the Midlands to offer the program.

“We are thrilled that these young people are interested in health care careers and are honored to welcome them as they learn about the challenges and rewards of patient care. We thank the school leadership for this opportunity to inspire students and support their journey to rewarding health care careers in South Carolina.”

Twenty C.A. Johnson students will work at Prisma Health Richland every Wednesday through April, gaining hands-on experience.

C.A. Johnson senior Azazziya Slater says he has always been intrigued with the medical field. Thanks to his experience in the MedEx Academy, Azazziya now wants to become a respiratory therapist.

“There are a lot of things here that I never thought that I would see or experience. Now that I’ve seen it, it’s changed my viewpoint on not only a career option but also my viewpoint of the world itself,” he said.

C.A. Johnson is home to Richland One’s health sciences magnet program. Junior Julaylie Morales says she’s experiencing some things in the MedEx Academy that she learned about in the magnet program.

“It’s like when you see a movie and you’re like, ‘Oh wow. I don’t think I could ever see that happening.’ Then, a few weeks later, you see it happening in real life and you’re like ‘This is amazing,’” she said.

Prisma Health (formerly Palmetto Health) has partnered with Richland One on several school and district-wide programs and initiatives since the 1990s.

Last year, Prisma Health donated a decommissioned ambulance to C.A. Johnson to support the health sciences magnet program. The decommissioned ambulance will be used for the magnet program’s EMT pathway that is set to launch in the fall.

“The opportunity with Prisma Health is truly tremendous. We have grown our partnership to now doing work-based learning in Prisma Health. We have students in their building shadowing doctors, working with nurses and seeing babies being born as real-life work experience learning about Prisma Health and all of the opportunities Prisma Health offers our community as well as our state,” said C.A. Johnson Principal Dr. Brenton Coe.

MedEx Academy’s expansion to C.A. Johnson is a pilot program. Applications for next year’s MedEx Academy will open in the fall.