Elementary school career awareness: A visit to a hospital

A well-conceived field trip to a hospital serves several important purposes for elementary school students: (1) it acquaints students with local place s of employment while demonstrating the essentiality of work and the need f or employees to work together to provide valuable community services, and ( 2) it helps to reduce the level of anxiety children generally associate wit h their own hospitalization. In order for a field trip to be something more than a relatively meaningless out-of-school frill, it needs to be carefull y planned and carried out. This article offers numerous practical suggestio ns for getting ready for the hospital visit, the tour itself, and ways to f ollow-up on the visit, thereby maximizing the educational value of the fiel d trip for elementary age students.