Central Utah Clinic and STEM Donate Health Science Kits to 100 Utah Schools

PROVO, UT – February 10, 2015 – In a new partnership with Utah’s STEM Action Center, Central Utah Clinic is donating 100 STEM kits to distribute to middle schools in Utah, Weber and Washington counties to support educators and provide new and exciting ways to bring STEM education to students.These kits were donated on behalf of hundreds of referring providers to Central Utah Clinic during 2014 in lieu of a Christmas gift.

This donation represents a commitment by Central Utah Clinic physicians and staff to increase the number of students prepared for careers in healthcare. Utah’s public education and secondary education systems play pivotal roles in developing qualified physicians, nurses and technicians who will contribute to the health and wellness of Utah’s communities.

“With the curriculum changes in the 7th grade college and career course, we recognized an opportunity to provide materials for teachers to meet these requirements,” said Scott Barlow, CEO, Central Utah Clinic. “We are excited to bring these kits to some of our local schools as they will provide positive first exposure to careers in health sciences, engineering, biotechnology and more.”

Each kit contains the following items: 1 glo-germ kit, 1 Clever Catch ball, 1 anatomy model, 4 physical therapy bands, 100 glass vials and 500 plastic pipettes. Some items, such as the Clever Catch ball and physical therapy bands, are useful teaching tools but are often considered to be luxury items that many schools cannot afford. Other items, such as the vials and pipettes, are critical to hands-on experiments but are costly for teachers and schools to purchase.

“The partnership with Central Utah Clinics reflects the spirit of collaboration that the STEM Action Center embraces as part of its mission,” said Utah STEM Action Center director, Tami Goetz. “It also highlights the shared priority and passion by the physicians at Central Utah Clinic and the Center to support Utah students and educators.”

Utah STEM Action Center distributed the kits during the Utah Science Teacher Association Conference on February 6, 2015.

About Central Utah Clinic:

Central Utah Clinic has over 100 locations and suites in 40 cities in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The Clinic is one of two Accountable Care Organizations in Utah accredited by Medicare. They employ approximately 170 physicians and 120 mid-level providers in 29 specialties.

About the STEM Action Center

Web: stem.utah.gov
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Action Center works to develop Utah’s workforce of the future by prioritizing STEM education. The program drives research and implementation of STEM education best practices across Utah by coordinating STEM-related activities, creating and coordinating proven STEM education best practices, facilitating educator access to those tools, align public STEM education and higher STEM education activities.