TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Public Schools soon will offer students a head start in the medical field.
The school district and ProMedica announced a partnership Thursday to form the Toledo Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy. The school will focus on biomedical science, pre-medicine, pre-nursing and all health science fields.
Students will have the opportunity upon graduation to begin an entry-level career in the medical field or choose to attend college and further their education.
"TPS continues to be innovative and creative, but more importantly, provide opportunity for the youth in the city of Toledo," Superintendent Romules Durant said. "We are a better place for a medical high school than any other place but the hospital."
Renovations are being made to the school located at the Toledo Technology Academy on Upton Avenue. ProMedica Toledo Hospital is located across I-475 and hospital executives are expected to be at the academy every day.
Students in the program will spend two and a half years in a hospital and be offered summer internship opportunities.
ProMedica Vice President of Community Relations Kate Sommerfeld said TPS and ProMedica first had conversations about the academy four or five years ago.
"There will be direct opportunities to hear from our physicians, clinicians and operations team in the careers students will hopefully fill," Sommerfeld said. "It provides opportunities for students, drives economic development and creates a future workforce pipeline that's so critical for ProMedica today."
Durant said students who complete the program will graduate high school with the equivalent of an associate's degree. He said the high school will also save students thousands of dollars in costs.
"We are able to educate them here so they can work here," Durant said. "It keeps our talent in the city of Toledo. The opportunities these students have are academic advantages and financial advantages."
TPS and ProMedica are recruiting students who will be freshmen next school year with an interest in the medical field.