Inquiring minds: Volusia County Schools’ Medical Program graduate builds career with AdventHealth

As the new school year is underway for local high school and college students, one recent graduate from DeLand High School feels ready to get a jumpstart on his career.

Lance Lozano, 19, is a current freshman at the University of Central Florida. Not only is he a full-time student, but he is also a part-time monitor tech at AdventHealth DeLand and plans to take advantage of AdventHealth’s robust employee benefits, including debit-free education assistance and student loan repayment.

“I’ve been raised by a family who has been involved in health care. Some of my relatives work for AdventHealth, so I always had an interest in it because of them,” he said.

As a monitor tech, Lozano is an integral part of the clinical team and observes inpatients, alerting nurses and physicians to any changes in heart rhythms.

“The great part of the monitor tech role is that it can be a wonderful stepping-stone into health care or nursing careers,” said Kathleen Kennybrook, AdventHealth DeLand emergency department director.

Knowing he wanted to pursue a career in health care, Lozano entered DeLand High School’s medical program and participated in AdventHealth’s Step Into the Future of Health Care event, where he learned his future career could start as soon as he turned 18 years old.

The event was a part of AdventHealth’s ongoing partnership with Volusia County Schools, which began in 2018. There are six high school health care academies and six academic health care programs at middle and high schools in the county. By supporting these programs, AdventHealth helps prepare high schoolers for future health care careers - including internships, professional interactions with health care professionals, recruitment opportunities and more.

It’s something Lozano was grateful to take advantage of. While some may take a week-long vacation or spend a week shopping for the perfect college essentials during the summer, Lozano took a week to shadow different units at AdventHealth DeLand.

“The various internship rounds I completed throughout the hospital this summer helped me get a solid direction of where I want to eventually focus in my career,” he said. “Taking everything in and learning about the different units has been great.”

Lozano spent time with physical and occupational rehab teams, the progressive care unit, and the emergency department. While each unit had their own feel, he enjoyed the welcoming environment that AdventHealth offers to students.

“To have that full opportunity to walk out of the classroom and get directly into the health care setting was so helpful. This program really set us up for success with the different avenues we could choose after graduating,” he said. “It’s something a few of my classmates and I talked about afterwards, how we aren’t as nervous because we’ve already seen firsthand what it will be like.”