The Center for Medical Studies at
Mandarin High School

The Mandarin High School Center for Medical Studies Career Academy began in the 2008-2009 school year graduating the first group of seniors in 2011.   The program received certified status following a national review by the National Career Academy Coalition in June of 2011. Our mission is “To provide students with the opportunity for exposure to a wide variety of health science career options through a series of classes, job shadowing, and subject integration.”

 What is a “Career Academy”?

The Center for Medical Studies Career Academy (more commonly referred to as the Medical Academy) is considered to be a Career and Technical Education Program by the Florida Department of Education. The Medical Academy is not a magnet program; it is a series of increasingly complex elective courses that serve as an introduction to the world of health care. Health science curriculum is also integrated into other courses to complement the student’s overall high school education. 

 How do I join?

Rising 9^th grade students whose home school is Mandarin High School simply need to select “Medical Skills” as their first choice elective when they fill out their course selection sheet.  These students will be treated as academy students in 9^th grade, but will still need to officially apply going into 10^th grade.

 Rising 10^th grade students whose home school is Mandarin High School need to fill out the application and submit it to Linda Smith in guidance by the end of the 2^nd nine weeks.  Late applications will be accepted on a space available basis.

 Rising 9^th and 10^th grade students whose home school is not Mandarin High School will need to apply through the school choice office for special assignment at the district level.  The process for special assignment and the application are located here: http://www.duvalchoice.com/career_academies.html.  Be sure to get your application in by their deadline.

 Program Structure:

The medical academy follows the career academy model in that it operates as a school with-in a school.  All of our medical academy students are housed with-in one small learning community.  This means they all have the same assistant principal (Bryan Boyer) and the same school counselor (Linda Smith).  They also have a set group of teachers who work together to integrate the curriculum of their academic curriculum with their medical curriculum.

 Traditionally, students take courses in the following progression:

 “Standard Track”

 “Honors Track”

 What will I do as a member of the academy?

Students in the medical academy are invited to participate in HOSA (Health Occupations Students of American) which is our after school medical club.  Students in HOSA do volunteer activities, take tours of clinical facilities, and compete in competitions.  In 2011, our first HOSA team of 6 had 4 of the team members make it to regional competition, and 3 go on to national competition in California.

 Students in the medical academy also actively participate in Baptist South’s Volunteen program which allows them the experience of being in a hospital and collecting volunteer hours.  While this is not an official part of the academy, students will officially participate in job shadowing experiences at Baptist South and other medical facilities as part of their certification course in their senior year.

 By participating in the medical academy, students are eligible to potentially qualify for the Gold Seal Vocational Bright Futures scholarship and will have an opportunity to earn the Medical Administrative Assistant industry certification such as EKG, First Responder, or Medical Administrative Assistant.

 Where can I go?

Students in the medical academy are laying the foundation for future studies in a medical field.  Our first group of seniors were accepted and offered scholarship money to the following schools: University of Florida, Florida State University, Penn State, Texas A & M, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville University, University of Central Florida, Auburn University, University of North Florida, Maryville College, and Barry College.

 Who can I contact with questions?

 Medical Academy Lead Teacher: Wendy Kustra, kustraw@duvalschools.org

Medical Academy School Counselor: Linda Smith, SmithL4@duvalschools.org

Medical Academy Assistant Principal: Bryan Boyer, Boyerb@duvalschools.org

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