Local medical, nursing and athletic training students had the opportunity to practice administering COVID-19 vaccines during educational programming at University of Idaho’s WWAMI’s anatomy lab on the Gritman campus.
The training was hosted by North Idaho Area Health Education Center on Feb. 10.
While many of the participating students had already received the vaccine, the program was designed to instruct them on how to administer it.
The training consisted of 40 WWAMI students, who practiced injecting each other using a harmless saline solution.
Dr. Dustin Worth, a WWAMI faculty member and physician, said the learning process for the students is in practicing giving the vaccine.
“It’s a combination of knowing how to do it safely and then building their confidence,” Worth said.
“When you get that opportunity to put yourself in the place of the patient, that helps you be more compassionate and understanding.”
Noting the various challenges, the program has faced in the health care field, Worth said removing students from the clinical training environment has been difficult.
“It was a real challenge, when the pandemic first started, to be training in the healthcare field and wanting to help,” Worth said. “It’s been exciting to get them back to training and to be able to see they were qualified for that first line of vaccinations.”
Sierra Pesnell can be reached at [email protected].
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify the training was hosted by North Idaho Area Health Education Center.