The curriculum does not dedicate a week to these three health science specialties, although students may ask about them and related careers appear in Irving ISD pathways. The sections below record where each specialty could connect to an existing lesson. They are planning notes until the health science coordinator team supplies sources.
Status: Awaiting source materials from Irving ISD health science coordinators. Do not promote these sections into primary weekly content until the SOURCE_PENDING tags below are removed and citations are added.
Physical Therapy (PT) and Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)
Integration hooks in existing curriculum:
- 2SW Wk3 (Nursing / Health Science) Day 1 career research: students with Helper and Doer core personality types can add PT to the careers they compare.
- 2SW Wk6 (Biomedical / Health Science) Days 2-4: the Mark athlete-rehabilitation scenario gives coordinators a place to add PT if they later approve a sourced activity.
- 6SW Wk1 (Education / Community) Day 4: PT volunteer/shadow hours at a PT clinic fit as a community service option.
What to fill in once source is available:
- DFW entry-level salary for PTA (currently BLS national median is the fallback)
- Irving ISD pathway connection (if any; currently Medical Therapeutics at Singley touches this lightly)
- Specific H&L Hat profile match and workbook chapter citation
- Education pathway: Associate (PTA) vs Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) distinction
Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Integration hooks in existing curriculum:
- 2SW Wk3 (Nursing / Health Science) Day 3 micro:bit vital signs activity: add sonography to the career comparison when the lesson moves from vital signs to diagnostic equipment.
- 2SW Wk4 (Dental / Medical Billing) Day 4 health informatics career research: sonography fits the high-skill-high-demand classification.
- 5SW Wk2 (Civil Engineering) Day 4: imaging technology has civil engineering cross-links (bridge ultrasonic inspection).
What to fill in once source is available:
- DFW DMS training programs (community college partnerships)
- ARDMS certification pathway (what's required, how long, how expensive)
- Specific H&L Hat profile match and workbook chapter citation
- Irving ISD pathway connection (Medical Therapeutics Singley likely overlaps)
Sports Medicine and Athletic Training
Integration hooks in existing curriculum:
- 2SW Wk3 (Nursing / Health Science) Day 1 career research worksheet: students with Doer, Helper, and Achievement results can add Athletic Trainer to the careers they compare.
- 2SW Wk3 (Nursing / Health Science) Days 3-4 Vitals in Motion: the community fun-run medical tent is the existing lesson context for sourced sports-medicine material. The old athlete-rehabilitation day is no longer in the curriculum.
- 3SW Wk5 (Cosmetology) Day 4 Stress Toolkit: sports med connects to the wellness-adjacent careers branch.
- 6SW Wk4 (Sales / Presentations) Day 3: sports agency and sports PR overlap with sports medicine careers.
What to fill in once source is available:
- Difference between Athletic Trainer (AT), Sports Physical Therapist (SPT), and Sports Medicine Physician
- NATA BOC certification for ATs
- Irving ISD pathway connection (possibly Health Science or Medical Therapeutics)
- Specific H&L Hat profile match and workbook chapter citation
- Clinical vs. scholastic sports med context (high school AT vs. pro team AT)
How to Drop in Source Content
When a coordinator delivers source material for any of the three sections above:
- Remove the corresponding
<!-- SOURCE_PENDING: ... -->tag. - Replace the "What to fill in" checklist with concrete content (named H&L chapter, citable BLS data, specific Irving ISD pathway, etc.).
- Add the section to the appropriate week's Overview "Irving ISD Pathway" note if there's a direct pathway match.
- Consider whether the source content is substantial enough to promote from this resource page into a day-file Extension section. If yes, move it and leave a pointer here.
Grep recipe for finding all pending source placeholders:
grep -rn "SOURCE_PENDING" docs/