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A local group of 20 first graders from Fairview Elementary in Spencer were the latest to participate in a program started by Spencer Hospital 30 years ago with the belief that the more children knew and understood about hospitals, the less fearful they would be if they needed hospital services. Volunteer Coordinator Barb Lewis estimated that about 4,800 school children have toured the hospital since the program began.

The field trip to Spencer Hospital serves several important purposes for elementary school students. The students get acquainted with the local place of employment while demonstrating the essentiality of work and the need for employees to work together to provide valuable community services, and it helps to reduce the level of anxiety children generally associate with their own hospitalization.

"We hope that after visiting Spencer Hospital the students will have less anxiety and fear about coming to the hospital or visiting their doctor - or of being sick," Lewis said.

The students took an hour tour of the Spencer Hospital Surgery Center, Diagnostic Imaging Center, Emergency Department, and were even introduced to a day-old baby girl in the Obstetrics Department.

At the end of the tour Lewis asked the students if they would prefer a doctor's hat or a nurse's hat to take home with them. She asked if any of the children wanted to become doctors and a few raised their hands; several expressed a desire to be nurses and paramedics.

Spencer Hospital encourages students of all ages to learn more about the health care field. We offer a variety of student tours, job shadows, nursing clinicals and other educational opportunities for students in Northwest Iowa who would like to learn more about a career in health care.

To schedule a class tour, contact Barb Lewis at (712) 264-6145 or blewis@spencerhospital.org.

To schedule a shadowing experience or other educational opportunity contact the Human Resources Department at (712) 264-6205 or hr@spencerhospital.org. 

Students peer inside a Spencer Hospital Ambulance and learn how paramedics help people when they call 911.		Students giggle as they are introduced to a day-old baby girl born at Spencer Hospital.
Fairview students look in awe as they are shown an x-ray image in the Diagnostic Imaging Center.		Students learn about what it is like to be a patient at Spencer Hospital.

At the end of the tour, the students were given doctor and nurse hats to take home.