Analyzing Student Experiences and Career Pathways for Healthcare Student Volunteers Participating in a Disaster Response Drill: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The NSF-funded CareDEX Team, in conjunction with a partner Senior Living Community (SLC), University of California Irvine student volunteers, and several local First Responder agencies, conducted a disaster response exercise and experiment. In this study, the participating volunteer students were surveyed regarding their drill experience and the efficacy of that experience related to their chosen career path. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of this questionnaire data is presented. The results of the experiment and coded response data indicate that the participants, overall, viewed the exercise as a positive learning and career experience; specifically, they noted gaining an appreciation for the challenges older adults face with technology use and disaster response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]