A field trip to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine will give health science students a closer look at careers in medicine through tours and career-focused activities.

The opportunity came after representatives from UNLV reached out about bringing nursing program students to tour the school of medicine on March 13, 2026.

“I’m hoping that they get to see the next level of what they could do if they keep pursuing the medical field that they started here at Southwest Tech into college,” Assistant Principal Cameron Roehm said. “It gives them a glimpse of what it will look like for their future before they even get there. Especially with something like medicine, it’s a really big commitment, so seeing it early can help students understand what the next step really looks like.”

The field trip was originally planned for a larger group of students but was later adjusted because only one bus was approved for the trip.

“Initially we had 85 slots, but because of budgetary things with the district paying for our bussing, we could only do one bus, which is 55 students,” Community Partnership Ryan Zaro said. “I did have quite a bit of interest, but we had to narrow it down to fill the one bus, so I looked at things like absences and GPA before sending the invitations out.”

Some students who were originally considered for the trip were unable to attend because of scheduling conflicts with other required program activities.

“They knew that we had our nursing program and specifically asked for junior and senior nursing students to go on the trip,” Zaro said. “But the nursing juniors already have clinicals and they’re missing about two weeks of school for that, so we didn’t offer it to the juniors. Instead, we opened the opportunity to seniors and sophomores so students could still take advantage of the visit.”

Students will be shown various labs and classrooms around the medical district.

“I love the medical field so I decided to sign up since I plan on going here for my undergrad,” senior Ziying Chen said. “Having hands on experience and touching all the equipment that they’re providing for us to use in the lab sounds fun.”

Those who are attending the trip will have the opportunity to see what medical education looks like outside of high school and learn about the experiences of people already in the field.

“I decided to go on this trip because I’m interested in learning more about careers in medicine, because that is a passion of mine,” senior Veronica Zamudio said. “I hope to learn what the students study every day, what they do to prepare to become doctors, and what skills are important for this field so I can understand what I should start preparing for now.”