WORCESTER, Mass. — A group of local girls had an opportunity to get a closer look at a career in health care through a collaboration between UMass Memorial Health and Girls Inc on Monday.

The program, called A Day in the Life, pairs experienced doctors with underrepresented students interested in learning more about the health care industry. Monday’s session focused specifically on OB/GYN.

During their time at UMass Memorial Medical Center, the group of roughly two dozen girls, all currently in high school, went through a series of hands-on demonstrations after taking part in a panel discussion.

Dr. Cherise Hamblin, OB/GYN for UMass Memorial Health, said she enjoys being in a position to inspire the next generation of health care workers. She was once in their shoes, and remembers how important it can be to have someone point you in the right direction.

Hamblin also serves as the director of the Underrepresented in Medicine Community Workforce Development and Capacity Building Program for UMass Chan Medical School’s Collaborative in Health Equity.

“In my ninth-grade biology class, I loved learning about the human body and I would come home and talk about it at the dinner table,” Hamblin said. “My dad said, ‘well, if you like biology, then you can be a doctor.’ And I said, ‘okay,’ and stuck with it from there.”

A Day in the Life is meant to give youth from groups that have been historically excluded from health care professions the kinds of opportunities their parents or grandparents often weren’t offered.

Along with the hands-on experience, they can also take in some wise words of advice from role models like Hamblin.

“I think that perseverance and grit is really important, and a lot of our young people have amazing talent and perseverance, and they really need more people to tell them, ‘yes,” Hamblin said. “Yes, they belong. Yes, they are needed. Yes, patients are waiting for them, and that their tools and their languages that they bring and their lived experience is important and will translate to save lives.”

Students’ practice included demonstrations showing the equipment and procedures used in OB/GYN, from labor and delivery to surgery and other areas.

Maria Tanaka and Samantha Oduro are both about to enter the 10th-grade, and the experience provided them with great insight as they begin to choose a college, pick a major and start their own careers.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the nursing medical field, but also I was really interested in science,” Tanaka said. “So being able to have all of these experiences of being able to go places and talk to people, it opens up a lot of doors for me and it's just like a really nice overall experience to be able to tell people about it.”

“It really gave me a view of the opportunities that I can get into, and the opportunities that could shape me as a person,” Oduro said. “So it really just enlightened me on different things that I could do when I'm older. And it honestly made me more open as a person to whatever I could do in my life.”