BHSU HealthCORE Hosts Second Annual SHE Leads the Way Event
Baptist Health Sciences University (BHSU) HealthCORE held their second annual SHE (Science, Health, Empowerment) Leads the Way event on Monday, Oct. 23. SHE Leads the Way promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) 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 event was expanded to have a virtual only option and three in-person host sites that delivered a simultaneous keynote speaker followed by an interactive hands-on experience. The three in-person hosts were BHSU, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Leake, and Baptist-NEA. The keynote speaker was Erica Plybeah, CEO and founder of MedHaul, a platform locating and scheduling transportation for vulnerable patient populations. Over 100 individuals attended the event, which is designed to introduce young women to the world of science and health care through empowerment.
“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. The interactive activity was a new addition this year. It was a ton of fun to partner with our colleagues across the Baptist system to create a portable experience that could be delivered locally.” said Dr. Briana Jegier, chair and associate professor of health administration and public health at BHSU.
Dr. Jegier serves as BHSU HealthCORE co-chair along with Dr. Lilian Nyindodo 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 healthcare and STEM and to connect them with the resources and mentors they need to accomplish their goals,” noted Dr. Nyindodo.
BHSU HealthCORE is supported by Baptist Memorial Health Care Community Outreach and Engagement. Cynthia Bradford, Abby Brann, and Ann Marie Wallace are a driving force behind all HealthCORE programming and serve as part of the HealthCORE advisory board. The next HealthCORE event is the 2nd Annual TN Health Careers Summit and Expo on November 9th on the BHSU campus. To learn more about HealthCORE and to register for upcoming events, click here: HealthCORE Events