CHH Biomedical Course, Human Body Systems career pathway students receive white coats

More than 100 Corbin High School students in the Biomedical Course, Human Body Systems career pathway received their white lab coats during a ceremony Monday night.

The coats were awarded to sophomores, juniors and seniors who had begun their second class.

“The white coat symbolizes the work, integrity, and dedication that each student has demonstrated to reach this level. It also provides a useful safety tool for them to wear during each lab,” said Corbin High School Science Teacher Marsee Huffman.

Huffman said the pathway is about more than just being a doctor or nurse. Students may follow it to more than 200 different career paths, including forensic anthropologist, pharmacy technician and DNA analyst.

“I had one student that entered the pathway as a freshman wanting to be a doctor, who found out he really liked doing DNA and wanted into those types of careers,” Huffman said.

Huffman said even for students that may be considering a different career path, the biomedical courses can still be beneficial.

“One of the things is that it make them ready for the rigors of college because of the way the classes are designed,” Huffman said. “They are very much student led.”

“We present the curriculum, objectives, main ideas, tops and tools for labs. They go with it,” Huffman added.

Huffman said despite the rigors, 90 to 95 percent of the students that begin the pathway complete it.

“Between freshman and sophomore year there is some drop off,” Huffman said explaining that while teachers may assign little, if any, homework, there is a lot of out of class work to be successful.

Like with other pathways, the biomedical course is geared towards students with a particular aptitude.

“You need to be decent in math and science,” Huffman said adding middle school students interested in the biomedical pathway may want to enroll in CMS’s engineering pathway.

“It will get you familiar with how the curriculum is structured,” Huffman said.

In addition, Huffman said students would benefit from working hard, even in the classes that may require little effort.

“That is what you will be expected to do in these classes,” Huffman said.