High school students have had the chance to explore health careers in a first-of-its-kind work experience program at Forbes hospital.

Giving students insight into health careers and pathways into them is key to inspiring the next generation - and there's actually a lot of interest, says Bethany Schofield, allied health educator with the Western NSW Local Health District.

Some 320 students requested work experience placement across the LHD last year, and health teams wanting to give Year 10 students that opportunity began to look at how they might cater for them.

After speaking with other regions, Scrub In was created, a two-day immersive program led by clinicians with a focus on practical skills.

It opened the door for the first cohort of 25 students from Red Bend and Forbes High to spend time in our hospital, allied health, and ambulance services.

Students rotated through practical workshops in small groups where they could experience the sort of work involved and speak with clinicians across a range of health disciplines.

Mental health clinicians and physios shared their roles, and CSU medical students taught about managing snake bite, anaphylaxis response and CPR.

Students played the part of patients when occupational therapist Amanda Prince and one of her university students ran a pediatric OT session for them.

The tech education team brought in the tools they use to train staff including virtual reality and models they use to teach practical skills such as giving needles.

"Students gave great feedback about the hands-on aspects, the time they got to spend chatting in a small group with clinicians," Bethany said.

"We also had a speed networking sessions where we got about 20 different clinicians in the room and the students had about three minutes each with them ... asking lots of different questions about getting into the courses and that sort of thing."

One of the exciting opportunities that is open to interested senior students is school-based traineeship programs.

"We support traineeships in allied health assistant, nursing, administration, pharmacy – there’s lots of alternate entry pathways into health," Bethany said.

"It’s really fantastic to have that in our own town.

"If there are students who are interested in doing that as part of their curriculum they can reach out to us and we can link them up with our school based traineeship team."

The hands-on opportunities of this program are unique but so is the chance to see the work of multiple different health teams rather than observing one clinical team - and feedback from students has been fantastic.

"A lot of them said the program helped them refine what they want to do in the future," Bethany said.

"They had a bit of an idea they’re interested in health ... and they found that the program really helped them refine that choice.

"One of our beautiful students gave feedback that now she’s really keen on pursuing a career in medicine which is so awesome to hear because that’s what we really need in our communities."

Michelle West, pathways coordinator with Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, says one of the exciting things about the program is how it opened students' eyes to see themselves pursuing health careers.

Scrub in gave them a good snapshot of the health services available in our community, Ms West said, backed by information about the pathways into those careers including from a CSU student ambassador.

“All our health professionals were so wonderful, wanting to be involved and giving of their time,” Ms West said.

It’s hoped this is the first of many similar programs, and that it can be rolled out into other areas.

“We want rural kids who are living rural, study rural and stay rural,” Ms West said. “It really does make a difference.”

What the students had to say:

“I really liked learning about all the pathways that health has for us … I really like getting hands on with activities which helped me a lot, I know a lot more now!”

“I learnt about new technologies in health and how all the sectors are integrated together to help patients.”

“I feel like my career choices have opened up more, seeing so many different things!”

What staff had to say:

“I left feeling hopeful for the future health workforce. There are a lot of keen students out there!”

“All the students should be congratulated for their excellent participation and willingness to engage. Well done!”