Sat, Oct 13, 2018 at 03:00 PM

DAR students learn about IT and health STEM careers for women

Talk by Marshall Medical professionals was part of Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates the achievements of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Sixth grade students at DAR put aside reading, writing and arithmetic for a day recently and learned about careers. 

Teachers called in speakers from all over the working community, including a doctor and an IT specialist from Marshall Medical Centers. 

Dr. Amanda Storey of Grant Primary Care told students the importance of wellness and urged them to always get check-ups.

“As a doctor, we’re there to help,” she said. “We’re there to ask those questions to.”

She also encouraged them to consider a field in medicine.

“I was just like you,” she said. “Anybody can be a doctor. It’s just a lot of hard work.”

Students peppered Dr. Storey about what it’s like being a physician. One asked whether she travels for her job. She explained that she doesn’t have much time for travel with three children and a medical practice.
 
“I need to be in one spot so my patients can rely on me,” she said. 

Another asked whether she works every day. Dr. Storey replied that she works during the week and is on call after hours and on weekends. She also told them her husband – Dr. Jonathan Storey, an oncologist at Marshall Cancer Care Center - works even more. 

Treasea Morrow, applications analyst in Marshall Medical’s Information Technology Department, also spoke to students about her job. She explained that her position typically requires a bachelor’s degree, but she was hired based on her knowledge of the software acquired while working with the software as a user. 
 
“Now I support users from an administrative perspective and have continued to learn more and more daily, so hard work does pay off,” she said.  “I do wish I had gone to college and regret not furthering my education.”

Morrow provides support for Marshall Medical’s Hospital Information System used by nurses and doctors to take care of patients.  
 
“We use remote software that we can remote into everyone’s computer and help them while sitting at our desk,” she said.  “So as long as our department and the person we are helping have internet access, we can support any user from anywhere just like we were sitting at their desk right next to them.” 
 
The DAR event was called “Ada Lovelace Day,” which is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in STEM.

Founded in 2009, Ada Lovelace Day is held every year on the second Tuesday of October to celebrate the 19th century mathematician and computer programming pioneer Ada Lovelace.