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Summary
Peggy Abels, Director of Health Sciences at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, joins Peter to share her 30-year journey guiding students into health care careers. She discusses her rural roots, the growing needs across Nebraska, and the programs UNK and UNMC have built to strengthen the state’s health care workforce.
Peggy walks through the creation of Health Science Explorers and the Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP), explaining how these initiatives spark interest early, support first-generation students, and help rural communities build long-term access to care.
Key Takeaways:
(00:00) Introduction.
(01:48) Seeing rural roots shape her path toward health care service.
(02:50) Nebraska’s rising need for a stronger rural health care workforce.
(05:29) Health care education remains hands-on despite industry shifts.
(07:17) KHOP supports rural students from college to eventual practice.
(08:24) Nebraska builds a uniquely comprehensive health care workforce pipeline.
Resources Mentioned:
University of Nebraska at Kearney – Health Sciences website
Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP)
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Transcript
Peggy Abels: ... I've been in this position for 30 years. Really proud of the work that we've done at UNK, and it's that kind of paying it forward, helping those students find their place in clinical medicine, going forward, to take care of all of us. It's been very rewarding.
Peter Murphy Lewis: The world does not run on headlines. It runs on people who care. I'm Peter Murphy Lewis, and this is "People Worth Caring About." Alongside my co-host, Jalene Carpenter, we sit down with the unsung heroes, caregivers, healers, helpers, the ones doing the real work, even when no one is watching. These conversations are not polished, they're personal, because behind every act of care is a story worth hearing. New episodes drop regularly. Get updates at peopleworthcaringabout.com.
Peggy Abels: Peggy Abels, Director of Health Sciences, take one.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Thank you. Peggy, why health sciences? Why are you in health sciences when, I don't know, you could be an architect, you could be a business owner?
Peggy Abels: Well, I knew that whatever profession I went into I wanted to be able to work with people, and help people, and make an impact. I taught high school science for a couple of years. I loved the science, I loved the students. But when this job opened up in health science, I felt like that was a great fit for my skills and my interests, and be able to make that long-term impact. And health science students are awesome to work with.
Peter Murphy Lewis: You're the second person that I've ever interviewed that taught science and then got into health care. And the first person was an hour ago, and she was a high school science teacher and she went on to become a CNA and now she wants to become a doctor, she's applying. Isn't that cool?
Peggy Abels: Fantastic. That is cool.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. So how did you know that you wanted to be in health care? How old? Who influenced you?
Peggy Abels: Yeah. So I think, I'm from a rural community, some of the things that you know when you're from a rural community in terms of careers, teachers, doctors, nurses, all of those things. And I considered something in health care, but I really enjoyed working with students. I mean, I considered careers in clinical health care and I really just enjoyed working with students. And so I decided to take a little different avenue on my interest in health care, and I've been in this position for 30 years. Really proud of the work that we've done at UNK, and it's that kind of paying it forward, helping those students find their place in clinical medicine, going forward, to take care of all of us. It's been very rewarding.
Peter Murphy Lewis: How has the curriculum changed in health care and health sciences today, maybe compared to a year ago, I mean, a decade ago?
Peggy Abels: I think in the time that I've been in my position, the opportunities for the students have expanded so much in terms of the careers that are available to them. If a student is interested in health care there's a dizzying array of career options that they can choose from.
One of the biggest shifts that I've seen in my position at UNK is really this increased emphasis on serving the state by emphasizing rural workforce development in health care. As we've hit some of those critical numbers that I'm sure you're aware of, in terms of things like nursing shortages and counties without physicians and without a primary care provider, it's become somewhat of a crisis mode. And so that switch has led to the development of some partnerships at UNK in particular, where we're working collaboratively with UNMC to create a regional campus so that we can train students in rural Nebraska.
So that's been probably one of the biggest shifts, maybe not so much in curriculum, but definitely in the ability to offer. 10 or 15 years ago, you wouldn't have thought about having a regional satellite campus of a medical center in Central Nebraska, the technology didn't exist, the means to have that happen didn't exist.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Does this program, is it born out of the crisis that rural America has? Does it come from politicians who say, "We need a solution," and the universities get together? How does it happen?
Peggy Abels: I think it comes from a couple of things. So on the UNK perspective, we had students, and we had students that are interested. And health science is the biggest program on our campus. We have 950 students on our campus that are interested in going into something in health care. UNMC is the largest trainer, I guess you would say, of health care professionals in our state.
So how could we work collaboratively to benefit the state, address rural workforce, serve the students, and ultimately meet the needs of the citizens of the state by being able to provide that training? So I think the grassroots parts of it come from the two universities saying, "Okay, what are our strengths? What can we capitalize on and work together here?
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I recently was at a convention for independent colleges, and spoke there, and they were talking about how education in the United States is a little bit in crisis. And it doesn't have to do only with visas related to the White House or DC, rather, there's a little bit of a crisis. Is that untrue, not true, in health sciences?
Peggy Abels: I think health sciences is a little bit different because there are certainly careers and industries now where you can do certifications if you want to be in tech. Companies like Google have certifications, you don't necessarily have to have a four-year degree. Health care education has kind of stuck to its traditional curriculum because of the content needed and the hands-on skills needed.
I think the shift in terms of education in health care has been more about where we're able to deliver that. We're able to train people in the communities where they live and work so that we can retain them there. I think that's been more the shift in health care. But there is definitely, I don't know that I would call it a crisis, but definitely a change maybe in the mindset of some other industries in terms of what they're looking for in their workforce.
Peter Murphy Lewis: What is something tangible that you're very proud of from your work at the college or the program that you're mentioning, that you're like, "Wow, we didn't know we were going to do this and we pulled it off either quickly or numbers wise?"
Peggy Abels: Yeah. I think there's probably two programs at UNK that we're very proud of. And the first one of those, which leads to the second one, the first one is something called Health Science Explorers, and that is a program for 7th through 12th grade. And really focusing a lot on students from what I would call Greater Nebraska or rural Nebraska, educating them on the opportunities that are available in health sciences.
We get them in and have them doing all kinds of really fun things. As a high school student, they're doing a phlebotomy arm, and they're starting IVs in mannequins, and things that get them excited. This past year we had 800 high school students, mostly from Central and Western Nebraska, that came through activities on the UNK campus geared on career awareness. So, real excited about that.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Wow.
Peggy Abels: And then that led to the development of what I would call our signature program on the UNK campus, and that program is the Kearney Health Opportunities Program called KHOP. And KHOP is for students that are from rural Nebraska that want to ultimately practice in rural Nebraska, but the program gives them a full tuition scholarship at UNK, a lot of student success support.
So a little over 40% of those students are first generation students. They want to go into health care, but they need some guidance, they need some support, so this program gives them that. And then it gives them guaranteed admission to UNMC when they finish the program. So it really is just a support mechanism to get somebody from rural Nebraska with a dream, through the education and back out to rural practice.
So we have put a little over 200 students into UNMC and the program has been growing on the front end. We currently, at UNK, have 188 students in that program that want to practice in rural Nebraska.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I don't expect you to know this answer for certain, because I don't expect you to be an expert in national health sciences, but is Nebraska pretty unique? Are you innovative? Are there a couple other states? If somebody's listening to us in another state, like, "I don't have that," well, maybe they do?
Peggy Abels: Right. So I'm aware of some other programs with some similar aims. I think what is setting us apart in terms of what we're doing, we're trying to build a full pipeline. So starting from seventh grade, through undergraduate, through health care training, and then we have recently added some programs in job placement on the back end of the pipeline. So I'm not aware of another state that is doing that fully comprehensive pipeline centered on workforce development, in this manner.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Well, thank you so much, Peggy, for joining us on the podcast. I appreciate it. Thanks for coming out to Nebraska Health Care Association Annual Convention, and it's beautiful what you all are doing. Thank you.
Peggy Abels: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's a wrap on "People Worth Caring About," born from the documentary, built to keep the stories going. Shout out to Nebraska Health Care Association and Jalene Carpenter for helping launch it, and to Ohio and New Mexico for making future seasons real. Watch the docuseries online or at peopleworthcaringabout.com. And if this episode meant something to you, leave a review, it matters. Take care of yourself and the people worth caring about.
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