Students at Sandy Creek shared their NCAPS internship experiences with other students, faculty, and visitors Friday, May 2.
Kaeden Schmidt went on one visit with his mentor, Dr. Melissa Lawrence, an orthopedic surgeon at Fillmore County Hospital, but during that visit he was able to absorb a lot of information.
Schmidt was able to see various issues patients were dealing with, and what they were at the doctor for.
Patients included one gentleman who needed a cortisone shot in his shoulder; removing stitches; trigger finger checkup; an elbow check up after a 93-year-old woman broke her humerus; and watched how a cast is put on.
During the check ups, he learned what arthritis each of the patients were dealing with, and talked about going to physical therapy to build up mobility.
Schmidt’s driving question for this internship is “What is orthopedics and how does it effect daily life?”
There are various types of orthopedic doctors, including pediatric, sports medicine, adult reconstructive surgery, foot and ankle, hand, shoulder and elbow, spine, trauma and fractures, and musculoskeletal oncology.
While Schmidt said he’d like to stay in this pathway, he’s going to focus more on the clinical side of things in pediatrics, instead of surgical.
As he’s always had an interest in medicine and helping people, Schmidt wants to attend the University of Nebraska-Omaha and then attend UNMC for physician assistant school.
Ryleigh Skalka interned at the Gottschalk Livestock Feeders’ Hasting location.
She worked with six mentors and went on four visits, each one focusing on a different area of the feedlot.
On her first visit, she met staff ,was shown around the office, and then taught how to buy cattle and input information into the data base.
From there, she was shown how to deposit checks into their system and how shrink weight works.
On her second visit, she worked with a mentor on how spreadsheets are used for the total headcount, which Skalka said was very useful.
Her third visit centers on what yardage at a feedlot is, and how medicine is paid for.
Skalka’s fourth visit gave her the opportunity to tour the feedlot. She got to see the flaker system they use, as well as the feeder process, as well as the entire operation ties together.
One of her favorite parts of the internship was the office records, because she was able to see how the entirety of the feedlot worked and all of the inventory, too.
Her driving question was “What does it take to own a feedyard?” Operating a feedlot takes a lot of prep work, including obtaining a registered feedlot permit to own and operate one; pay a feed based on the feedlot capacity; and maintain records of cattle movement.
Keeping a good record is important, and this accounts for everything from records of transactions, cash flow, analyzing profitability; insurance and compensation claims; and financial control.
Skalka said that while her internship was interesting, she will not be staying in this particular pathway. Instead, she plans to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for pre-dental.
Sydnee Bennett interned with photographer Danet Boelhower of Hastings, specifically on sports photography and design.
She went on 10 mentor visits, and during those visits Boelhower show Bennett how to use Photoshop; tips on taking photos; how to make a game day graphic— using a photo or photos, and using only words and design; how to cutout players from a photo to help them stand out; and learned new visual techniques and how to use them in a graphic.
At the end of her internship, he had her design a poster by herself, implementing everything she’d learned over the 10 visits.
Some tips she learned about taking action shots is to capture action, emotion, and the atmosphere to tell a story. Also, to use different angles and perspectives.
Her driving question was “What is so important about graphics?”
She outlined how to use photography and graphics to help something more appealing, and how the two can impact the interest people have in a design.
For her future plans, Bennett said she wants to stay in the pathway because she enjoys it, but wants to do more hands-on things next year, like taking photos.
She wants to attend either the University of Nebraska- Lincoln or Creighton, and major in sports media or sports marketing, with a minor in business administration.
