Two years ago, Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, went to Houston for cancer treatment. He came back without the cancer but with an idea.
The outgoing Austin chatted up many of the people caring for him and discovered many of them had something in common: Theyâd all gone through a special high school dedicated to health sciences training â the DeBakey High School for Health Professions.
For some, that was the extent of their training; for others, it was the starting point as they went on to further schooling and, in some cases, medical school.
Austin wondered whether the Roanoke Valley â which certainly isnât on Houstonâs scale but is still a medical center in its own right â could benefit from something similar. If not a stand-alone magnet school, at least some programs that would increase health sciences education in high schools and allow some of those students to earn dual enrollment credits for college before they even graduate from high school.