CONTACT: Jodi Truel
734-934-4583; Jodi.truel@med.fsu.edu

Aug. 9, 2017

SARASOTA COUNTY STUDENTS TAKE FIRST STEP TOWARD HEALTH CAREER

SARASOTA, Florida – Rising eighth and ninth graders in Sarasota County schools will participate in an orientation program. Thursday that, for some, could be the first step on the road to becoming a physician.

The daylong experience is part of the Florida State University College of Medicine SSTRIDE program. SSTRIDE is an FSU medical school pipeline program consisting of in- and after-school resources providing academic instruction and experiential activities to encourage interest in STEM fields and prepare students for college and a possible future in health care.

The College of Medicine is starting a chapter of its SSTRIDE program in Sarasota County this schoolyear thanks to a five-year, $500,000 grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.

The program (Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity and Excellence) was developed at FSU in 1993 as a way to steer more students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine to a career in health care. Numerous SSTRIDE participants over the years have gone on to medical school and are now practicing physicians.

Five FSU College of Medicine students are among the instructors for this orientation, with activities that include introducing Sarasota SSTRIDE students to taking vital signs and performing other basic medical procedures.

SSTRIDE ‘MINI-CAMP’

THURSDAY, AUG. 10

10 A.M. – 12 P.M.: Basics of intravenous fluid therapy
12:30-1:30 P.M.: Working with vital signs

SARASOTA HIGH SCHOOL
1000 SOUTH SCHOOL AVE.
Sarasota, FL 34237