Wiscasset Middle High School students heard from health and wellness professionals in small focus groups Friday morning.

Shaye Paradis, school counselor, and Mary Ellen Bell, Career Pathways coordinator, arranged the event, a first for WMHS called “Career Chat.” Students signed up in advance for the 45-minute sessions covering the medical profession including nursing and radiology, women’s health, massage therapy, acupuncture, yoga and more.

Dr. Minda Gold told students being a family doctor in Damariscotta meant caring for newborns, the elderly and every age in between. Becoming a doctor requires a great deal of education, she said. “After you earn a four-year college degree, you’ll then need to go to graduate school and earn a medical degree. After that there’s residency training and then the obtaining the necessary medical certification.”

There’s always something new to learn in the medical and health profession, she continued. “That makes it exciting but challenging too.”

Dr. Kari London said her job at LincolnHealth required consulting with both physicians and patients. She said Maine has two colleges, Husson and the University of New England, offering pharmaceutical programs. Becoming a pharmacist requires almost as many years of training as becoming a doctor; becoming a pharmacist technician requires a two-year degree.

London told the students the hours a pharmacist works depend on the employer. Hours at retail pharmacies might mean working days, weekends or even nights, she said.

Both Gold and London said living and working in a small community offered many rewards. Gold noted she’d done her residency in a hospital trauma center in Newark, New Jersey. “Even before that, I wanted to practice medicine in a small town,” she said.

Other career presenters included Betsey Cossette, nurse manager at Riverview Psychiatric Center; Cristie Benner, professional development practitioner in nurse training; Katrina Wozich, program manager, residential inpatient program for adults with psychiatric disorders, Carrie Levine, Certified Nurse Midwife women’s health concerns; Susan Ross, lab director; Courtney Belolan, yoga instructor; Susan Weiser Mason, licensed acupuncturist; Lori Lester, radiologist and Kelley Brackley, breast health care Miles Hospital; Scott M. Gagnon, MPP,PS-C Ad-Care Maine; Wendy St. Pierre, UMaine Augusta; Jonathan Powers, director of Wiscasset Ambulance Service, Judy Hastings, RN/Home Health, Emily Waltz, director of admissions Downeast School of Massage and Jane Dunstan, trauma nurse, Miles Hospital Emergency Room.

“This was our first career event of the school year,” said Paradis. “We’re planning a second one in the spring and looking for volunteers who might be interested in sharing experiences about their profession with students.”

If interested, contact the WMHS guidance department at 882-7722.