Fort Simpson (Oct 01/04) - Community health and computers are the focus of programs being offered through Aurora College in Fort Simpson this semester.

Nine students are enroled in the computers in the workplace course while four people, so far, are taking part in the community health worker certificate program.

The latter will consist of a series of 11 modules, each taking a week to complete. Students must also fulfil a 60-hour field placement to pass the program.

The first unit, looking at systems of the body and how they are integrated, was completed earlier this month.

"They learned that not one thing can work alone. The body is a finely-tuned machine," instructor Robin Kraft explained.

Community health workers are considered the eyes and ears of the health care system in smaller communities, said Lucy Simon, who fills the position in Jean Marie River. In consultation with nurses and doctors, they dispense medications, monitor residents' blood pressure and blood sugar, and interpret for medical staff.

Like the other three students, Simon has years of experience, but her previous training was limited to brief workshops. "We have never taken a course this long," she said. "I'm really looking forward to that."

Bertha Deneron, a community health worker in Trout Lake, said medical terminology can be complicated, but Kraft made things easy to understand. Kraft added that the program also gives the community health workers a chance to share experiences or "compare notes."

In the three-month computers in the workplace course, students are taught how to use the Internet and programs such as Excel, Word for Windows and Power Point. Instructor Orville Zaste said within the first week, the students learned to dismantle a computer and install the hard drive, memory chips and a CD Rom.

Merle Snider, one of the participants, said she is already able to make a computer-generated poster, store digital pictures, create her own Web site, and her typing has also improved.

"It's so enlightening," she said. "It's opening up a new world for me."