By Isjina Luckett

The school’s Health Science Magnet has been replaced by a district-wide newly expanded health science program at the Richardson Methodist Continuing Care Campus. Now, students at any high school in RISD will be allowed to prepare for licensure or certification for employment in health care fields upon graduation.

“On behalf of RISD and our students, we offer a enormous thank you to Methodist Richardson Medical Center for their ongoing support and partnership in helping prepare students for success after graduation,” RISD Superintendent Dr. Jeannie Stone said.

This shift could have an impact on attendance at the school, because many students enrolled specifically because of the Health Science Magnet’s opportunities.

Senior Sandra Nguyen’s home school is Berkner, but she chose to attend Richardson because she had a growing interest in medicine and wanted to learn more about the field.

“A lot of my friends’ older siblings were in the Health Science Magnet and they talked about how their experience helped expand their knowledge of health care and prepared them for a journey in medicine,” Nguyen said.

The health science program prepares students for the real world in the health industry and allows them to learn the skills necessary for entry into the workforce for positions such as phlebotomy technician, EKG technician, emergency medical technician, medical assistant, and nurse aide.

“We have the same basic course layout as before, but now during senior year, we have more certification options than we had before since we have an entire hospital to learn in,” senior Saminul Haque said.