Starting this August, Bowling Green High School students will be able to pursue career tracks in pre-nursing, fire safety, phlebotomy and more through a new medical arts academy.

“It’s not only to support the community need in terms of medical arts and health care,” said Elisa Beth Brown, assistant principal for instruction and achievement at BGHS. “We want to support students to be well prepared in their transition to achieve their long-term goals, whether that’s college (and) career or straight into the workforce.”

The academy is the result of a partnership between the high school and the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce through the Ford Next Generation program, which supports specialized high school career academies.

BGHS has had a medical program for students since the 1980s. But the academy will stand out for its more robust job shadowing, internship, guest speakers and business partnerships “to make sure that what we’re teaching reflects what’s in the workforce,” Brown said.

The academy’s career tracks will include allied health, electrocardiogram technician, fire safety, medical administrative assisting, phlebotomy technician and pre-nursing.

The tracks will offer nationally recognized certification tests, Brown said, so students will be more employable once they graduate. The school is also working to add an EMT program in the 2018-19 school year, Brown said.

BGHS also offers career pathways in JROTC, business and information technology, transportation education, construction technology, and family and consumer science through the Warren County Area Technology Center.

There are currently 177 students enrolled in the academy, which Brown said couldn’t happen without the Ford Next Generation Learning program and the Chamber. The school already opened its Joseph Tinius LEAD Academy for freshmen this year.

The program has created leadership opportunities, increased connections between students and staff and decreases in the number of days freshmen missed school and in the number of discipline referrals.

Meredith Robinson, the chamber’s chief operating officer, said its partnership with BGHS on the academy is part of its broader SCK Launch initiative, a program that aims to make high school students more employable by connecting schools to industry partners’ needs.

“Our goal as a community is for them to understand all the opportunities that are available to them and choose where their passion lies,” said Robinson.

Along with purchasing some equipment for the academy, the Chamber helps to form partnerships with local medical providers for other equipment and job shadowing opportunities. It recently helped coordinate a teacher externship with the Medical Center to help to “give them an idea of all the opportunities that are available to the students,” in health care, Robinson said.

Kim Phelps, the chamber’s vice president for communications and public policy, said that experience provided a forum for teachers to learn about both the breadth of medical jobs and preparation required.

“They asked really what they need to be talking to their kids about,” she said.

As the Baby Boomer generation retires and needs increased medical care, medical jobs, especially nurses, are expected to increase in demand.

Emily Martin, The Medical Center’s vice president for nursing, is looking forward to the future employees the BGHS academy will produce.

“The (registered nurse) workforce is expected to grow from 2.7 million in 2014 to 3.2 million in 2024,” said Martin, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “That’s an increase of 16 percent.”

According to a 2013 survey conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 55 percent of the registered nurse workforce is 50 years old or older, Martin said.

Martin said the shortage creates problems for medical providers wanting to avoid drops in healthcare quality, such as having to provide incentives for nurses to pick up extra shifts and reliance on travel nurses.

“It’s a huge challenge,” she said.

Martin sees the BGHS academy as a positive step to meet the needs of both the community and students.

“They can certainly give them a foundation that they can build upon,” she said.