Creating a Pipeline for Healthcare Careers

When Julia Lee volunteered with the Fostering the Future program as a UC Davis undergraduate student, she saw it as an opportunity to give back.

Years earlier when she was in high school, Lee attended a summer educational program that introduced her to health care careers and allowed her to shadow professionals in a hospital setting. The experience helped transform a general interest in medicine into a clear career goal.

"I had such a positive experience through that program and learned so much about the healthcare system, including shadowing at a hospital, and it really inspired me to pursue a career in medicine," Lee said. "I wanted to try and give that type of experience to other students." 

As a student in the UC Davis Health’s Research Experience in Surgery, or RESURG, program, Lee recognized the same potential in Fostering the Future, a hands-on educational experience designed to introduce high school students to careers in health care.

What began as a volunteer opportunity soon became something more.

Throughout the past four years, Lee has progressed from curriculum coordinator to lead coordinator, helping shape the program's growth while developing leadership skills of her own. Today, the 2024 UC Davis graduate works as a junior specialist supporting both Vascular Surgery research and the RESURG program through which she helps lead Fostering the Future.

Lee’s journey reflects the broader mission behind the K-16 Collaborative, which seeks to create pathways from education to high-demand careers by connecting students with real-world learning opportunities and professional mentors.

Health care career exploration for high school students

Each summer, Fostering the Future brings nearly 70 high school students from across the Sacramento region and Northern California to UC Davis Health annually for a two-day, immersive introduction to the health care field. The program focuses outreach efforts on schools within the three regions of UC Davis’ K-16 Collaborative catchment area to provide students who may have fewer opportunities the chance to connect with health professionals or explore careers in medicine and science.

"We really do try to work with schools that are more underserved because we know students in those areas might not have a lot of opportunities to connect with health care professionals on their own," Lee said.

Supported through UC Davis’ involvement with the K-16 Collaborative, the program helps students learn about educational pathways into health professions while exposing them to careers they may not have previously considered. That exposure is increasingly important as California faces growing demand for not just physicians and nurses, but also researchers, technicians and other health care professionals.

"We wanted to show students the variety of different careers they could have," Lee said. "There's so much more to health care than just working in a hospital."

Hands-on learning brings health care careers to life

Rather than relying on lectures, Fostering the Future emphasizes active learning. Students practice surgical knot-tying techniques, participate in anatomy activities and engage directly with health care professionals who guide them through real-world scenarios. One of the program's most popular activities involves supervised heart dissections that allow students to explore anatomy firsthand.

"Being able to interact with the anatomy and work together to understand what they're seeing makes a lasting impression," Lee said.

Another standout experience is a health care networking session that connects students with professionals from across UC Davis Health. Last year, more than a dozen physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other professionals volunteered their time to meet with students in small groups, answering questions about education, career preparation and daily life in their professions. 

The format creates opportunities for conversations that students might not otherwise have. Some ask about college majors. Others want to know what inspired a professional to enter the field. Still others are curious about balancing family life, education and work. For many participants, it is their first opportunity to interact directly with people working in the field. Those interactions often become some of the most memorable moments of the weekend.

It takes a collaborative effort

For Lee, the program became more than an opportunity to introduce students to health care careers. It also became a place where she could develop as a leader.

She first joined the program as a curriculum coordinator, helping develop educational activities and workshops. Later, she became lead coordinator, overseeing curriculum development, outreach efforts and program planning while mentoring newer student leaders.

Lee said one of her proudest accomplishments has been helping update the curriculum based on participant feedback and creating more opportunities for interaction with health care professionals.

"We're always trying to improve the program based on what students want to learn about," she said. "The grant funding has been really critical because it has allowed us to purchase the items that facilitate hands-on learning opportunities for the students, which they really enjoy."

The effort requires a large team of volunteers. Undergraduate students serve as mentors and workshop leaders, like Lee once did, while physicians, nurses, researchers and professional students donate their time to share expertise and encourage participants. According to Lee, those relationships, as well as the grant funding provided by the K-16 Collaborative, are central to the program's success.

"It really takes all of us to make the event happen," she said. "The guest speakers and health care professionals not only share their expertise and knowledge, but they also help foster this next generation of students and really just inspire them." 

Creating pathways to the region's future workforce

Programs like Fostering the Future are part of a larger effort to address workforce needs across the Sacramento region.

Health care employers throughout California face growing demand for workers as the population ages and experienced professionals retire. State forecasts estimate California will need approximately 10,500 additional primary care providers by 2030, while workforce studies project continuing shortages across several health professions, including nursing and behavioral health.

The K-16 Collaborative was created to help address those challenges by strengthening connections between K-12 schools, community colleges, universities and employers. The collaborative focuses on creating clearer pathways into high-demand careers, including health care, engineering and technology.

UC Davis serves as the academic affiliate for the K-16 Collaborative efforts in Sacramento as well as California's Redwood Coast and North State regions, making it the only university in the state currently serving as the academic affiliate for three regional K-16 collaboratives.

While the workforce challenges facing the state are complex, Lee knows from firsthand experience a career choice can generate from a small moment.

"High school is a really pivotal time for a lot of these students," Lee said. "I think that's why the students bring a lot enthusiasm to the event, and they're really interested in health care. Fostering the Future can influence what classes they take in high school, what they study in college and what careers they pursue."