HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla.-- A Bay Area program is striving to bring diversity to the health care industry.

  • High-schoolers get hands-on experience at Florida Hospital
  • B.E.S.T. program's goal is more diversity in the medical field
  • Partnership between Florida Hospital and USF

This summer, about 80 high schoolers have been chosen to get hands-on experience at Florida Hospital.

It's part of the Brain Expansion Scholastic Training (B.E.S.T.) program. The goal is to bridge the racial and gender gap in the medical field.

"A lot of times students come and they don't feel like they can be doctors or health care professionals because they don't see people that look like them," said B.E.S.T. Administer Ron Anderson. "So now they come to a facility and interact with a diverse group of people that are in the profession already. So it gives them that of saying 'yes I can.'"

Students said they came with an open mind and are excited about the opportunity.

For the last week, they've been shadowing health care professionals and before they finish the program, the students will even get to dissect a heart. 

The B.E.S.T. Summer Academy started 14 years ago as an after-school program with only a few students.

It has now expanded to become a partnership between Florida Hospital and the University of South Florida. 

For more information, click here.