The students looked warily at the strange piece of equipment in the hospital radiology department. &uot;It may look like some kind of medieval torture device, but it’s not,&uot; said Virginia Berling, radiology technician at Natchez Regional Medical Center. Jay Robinson and Retha Scott, ninth-grade students from Natchez High School, were shadowing Berling as part of the School to Careers Groundhog Job Shadow Day Wednesday.

Berling showed the students a clear, plastic harness device used for restraining infants for X-rays.

Robinson said he is considering a career as a radiologist while Scott said she wants to be a trauma surgeon.

Robinson and Scott were just two of the 60 students who participated in the job shadow day at Natchez Regional Medical Center.

More than 300 students were job shadows at 58 businesses in the Miss-Lou Wednesday. Eighth-grade students from Vidalia Junior High and ninth-grade students from Natchez High participated.

Students observed business people around the Miss-Lou – getting a closer view of the jobs that they might want to perform one day.

At Natchez Regional, Berling got positive reviews from her shadow students.

&uot;I enjoyed it,&uot; Robinson said. &uot;She’s a nice guide, and she’s done a great job.&uot;

Students asked plenty of questions about not only the jobs they were observing but the training and compensation for them.

&uot;The students have been very excited about this opportunity,&uot; said Eileen Richardson, human resources director at Natchez Regional&160;Medical Center.

Emilee McGarry was one of seven students assigned to the lab at NRMC.

&uot;I know I want to work somewhere in medicine, I just haven’t decided exactly where,&uot; she said. She said she is leaning towards a career in veterinary medicine.

Lab technician Mary Katherine Smith showed McGarry some of tests performed in the hospital lab.

&uot;A lot of the tests that are performed on humans are also performed on animals,&uot; Smith told McGarry. &uot;But the values are just different.&uot;

Cynthia Parker, coordinator of the School to Careers program, said she was pleased with the results of the day. &uot;I am just so thrilled with the response,&uot; she said. &uot;People have gone out of their way to make this a success.&uot;

Parker will spend time over the next two to three weeks evaluating the job shadow day with students and hosts.

&uot;We’ll break the students into small groups and do a follow-up evaluation of what they gained from the experience,&uot; she said.

Parker said the School to Careers office will send letters to job shadow hosts for feedback.

&uot;Then, we’ll know what to do next year.&uot;