Health care is the fastest growing occupational sector in the United States, but students from low-income and underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds often lack mentorship and basic information about health care careers and pathways.
We developed the Career 911 massive open online course (MOOC) to help students from diverse backgrounds to explore and build career portfolios to enter health-related professions.
More than20,000 students have enrolled in Career 911. Career 911 has served as a learning resource for schools and health care pipeline programs. Key lessons learned include cultivating strategic partnerships and networks, using community engagement efforts to counter technology’s potential to exacerbate educational disparities, minimizing disruptions from changes to technology, and optimizing data for program evaluation.