‘Covenant Ready’ program gives local students behind-the-scenes look at live surgeries

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - On Tuesday morning, students from all across the South Plains had an opportunity to see what life inside of an operating room is like, up close and personal. Covenant Ready is a new program that allows students interested in the healthcare field a chance to watch a surgery live demonstrating all of the roles that are needed to change lives inside of a hospital.

“They are getting to see even the preparation you know what we do to prepare for a surgery sterile processing is one of the most important jobs we have in the hospital, and it can be an entry-level position that you don’t even need a degree for,” Terri Morris, director of Covenant Ready, said.

Students observed and asked doctors and nurses questions in real time as they were operating. Seeing a surgery live was not what most students were expecting, even those like Sonia Garcia, a student at Lubbock-Cooper who has always known she wanted to become a doctor.

“It is a lot more intricate and very hands-on, a lot more than what I expected. The details of what goes into the surgery. I think whenever we think OR we think of a very vague thing and being able to see that firsthand is very interesting,” Garcia said.

All of the students who attended are enrolled in Health Theories, Patient Care Technician or Nursing programs within their schools. Each student we spoke to says this program has taught them real-world experience they will take into their careers.

“Just to be so detailed to the point, if this is not going right I need to check again and again to make sure everything is going the way it is supposed to,” South Plains College student Jeanne Ohidan said.

Covenant Ready aims to teach and keep local students here and practicing in West Texas. There are more than 100 former students employed at Covenant Health currently.

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