Making a difference in healthcare education and changing the way students learn is the mission of MNCAPS. 

On December 10th in Lakeville MNCAPS building, students from Prior Lake High School and Farmington High School who are interested in Healthcare got the opportunity to learn about MNCAPS, the Minnesota Center for Advanced Professional Studies, which is offered to high school students in grades 11 through 12.

The Healthcare Pathway in MNCAPS is a 2-year program for students who are interested in learning about the medical field. Students learn about and gain practical experience with medical professionals and mentors while earning college credit as a high school student. Talking to a current student about the importance of MNCAPS showed what an impact it makes on a student’s life. 

MNCAPS not only strives for a new way of learning but also a new way of teaching for its administration and instructors.

“It’s a unique way to have team teaching and subject matter that is interesting to the students and tailoring that to the specific academic classes,” said Ann Deane, administrative assistant to the MNCAPS program and concurrent enrollment specialist.

Mrs. Deane works closely with the district and enjoys that she gets to “help shape how things are done. It’s exciting to be part of something new and innovative.”

MNCAPS has been part of the Prior Lake District since 2016, and since then, the faculty and staff have grown to become what it is today. 

“Healthcare is the largest pathway, Mrs. Deane said. Due to the rapid growth and interest in healthcare, new opportunities for interested students can reach the students who are interested in enrollment for next year. 

A student interested in MNCAPS for next year expressed the importance of learning about healthcare and why going to events such as the networking event is important. 

“It’s important to help people because it’s our job now. After Covid, people don’t want to do it, and I feel like it’s important for us to step up as the next generation,’ said Rida Osman who is a current sophomore student at Prior Lake High School.

‘I’m hoping to get a lot out of my time in MNCAPS and learn if I want to pursue my interests in healthcare. I’ll also get a good idea of what I might be doing in the future,’ Rida said.

Expanding knowledge on how and what it is like to work in healthcare is important for future students, and being part of the MNCAPS healthcare pathway can make a difference. 

“Just doing something like this could be good. I feel like it’s important to me to know there are many ways to learn how to help people,’ Rida said.

There is always a need for healthcare workers and their skills, and MNCAPS instructors have been able to incorporate a professional and experienced workforce into their classrooms. 

‘We collaborate a lot on what we want to do, and we make sure that everything flows in the way we want to integrate it,” said Mr. Schliewe, Healthcare Instructor of MNCAPS.

 In his experience of working with the staff for his second year, the environment is filled with students and staff with open minds.

‘We continuously bounce ideas off of each other to try to come up with the best curriculum to get as much experience for the students as possible,’ Mr. Schliewe said.

Events such as the networking opportunity allow each student to make a difference and educate themselves and others on how what they have learned in the classroom can be remembered and utilized. 

The peer networking experience allows the instructors to look for certain types of student leaders who will stand out in a setting where they are captivating and inspiring people interested in a similar passion.

We look for “students who are and want to be open to learning new things and in different ways with different learning styles or who are excited rather than those who just take tests. We want someone who wants to explore new ways of learning and career paths and learn from people who have different ways of teaching and learning,” Mr. Schliewe said. 

MNCAPS has been offered to hundreds of students who have a passion for learning and want to start their careers early or be ahead of their careers. Healthcare students are offered a 2-year course and get the opportunity to further their education and skills quickly and efficiently while still in high school.

“I believe that MNCAPS does help you gain some real work experience because they have so many different pathways you’ll be able to find something that interests you,” said Pamela Santos, current year 2 healthcare student.

The wide variety and benefits a student can get from MNCAPS and the opportunities you get will make help you to stand out from others. 

“You’ll have so many different options and so much information you can gain and you can experience,” Santos said.

The more experience a student of medicine can have, the likelier they will advance with that knowledge and be successful in their career.

‘I really liked the peer networking experience because we were able to do suturing, talk to year twos about what types of projects they were doing, and learn about the Mayo Clinic. We were going to visit them and see the job opportunities the Mayo Health Clinic provides,” Santos said.

At the networking event, prospective students talked to current students and instructors about questions they had and got the opportunity to look into what it is like to be a MNCAPS healthcare student.