When teacher Sylvia Tanious first began working at Lyons Township she started a club called Future Healthcare Professionals (FHP) to help introduce and inform students about medical professions. The club has the opportunity to go on many educational field trips.

Now 20 students have been given the opportunity to visit Northwestern Hospital on Oct. 30.On the trip the members will be able to tour the hospital, use a patient simulator and do a Q&A with a physician panel.

“The patient simulator is a pretty cool part of the trip,” Tanious said, “because it allows for the students practice an actual scenario where they can administer CPR, resuscitate and administer medicine.”

This field trip can provide students with great introductions to the medical field and knowledge that can be beneficial in the future. FHP offers educational and service opportunities for students interested in medicine.

The club consists of two different parts, education and service. Tanious believes that both of these will help students who will possibly work in the medical field in the future.

“It’s geared toward students who are interested in healthcare professions but not solely for anyone who is interested in healthcare,” Tanious said.

The first half of the club focuses on service because Tanious said that healthcare is based around service.

“We try to do one event every month to give back to the community or raise awareness and raise money,” Tanious said.

In addition to service, the members of FHP participate in many educational activities and have many learning opportunities from professionals.

“We bring in a lot of guest speakers to teach [the students] about different career paths and help get [the students] become acclimated to different professions in medicine,” Tanious said.

Every semester the club tries to go on a educational field trip. The club has previously been to Moraine Valley Community College, Loyola and the Spine Institute.

“The members vote on places they want to go and they wanted to go to Northwestern Hospital because it is a very prestigious and well known hospital,” Tanious said.