Potential members of the next generation of doctors and health professionals got a chance to explore possible medical fields hands-on recently at Northern Regional Hospital. Thirteen local high school students interested in becoming registered nurses, physicians, occupational therapists, or other medical professionals participated in Camp Med 2023 summer program provided by Northern Regional Hospital and the Northwest Area Health Education Center, an initiative of the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The first of two 2023 Camp Meds took place on June 5-9. The program provided a range of educational experiences in the healthcare field, from meeting practitioners to seeing modern technology, touring healthcare facilities, and learning about the services provided to patients, as well as presentations by the Mount Airy Police Department, Surry County Sheriff’s Office, medical staff from Northern Regional Hospital, and others.
Participants explored different medical career pathways, including surgical services, obstetrics, emergency medicine, and more and each obtained a CPR certification through the American Heart Association.
The camp included a tour of Surry Community College and activities to explore the healthcare certificates and nursing programs offered there as one of the Top 10 nursing programs in the state.
Presentations to the students included the health risks of vaping, and the students finished their camp by creating a public service announcement about vaping.
They also began detailed planning for the culminating mock tragedy scenario about teen texting and driving which will be the focus of the second Camp Med this summer.
“As we focus on our Growing Our Own strategy, we realize that there are many students in our community interested in entering the medical field,” said Tina Beasley, manager of volunteer services at Northern Regional Hospital and one of the coordinators of Camp Med. “Through Camp Med, we can provide these individuals some exposure and hands-on interaction to help them explore the many opportunities in healthcare here at Northern Regional Hospital. Our hopes and intentions with the camp are to expose students to a vast array of health careers in hopes that that they might discover they have a passion for a career they might not have even known existed before attending camp. We are grateful for our partnership with Northwest AHEC to make Camp Med happen.”
Camp Med participants were from across the area, and attend high schools in Surry County Schools, Mount Airy City Schools, and Millennium Charter Academy. Participants included Ilihanie Caro, Riley Halstead and Kaylee Thomas of East Surry High School; Kendall Golding and Logan Wood of Millennium Charter Academy; Colby Cruise, Lily O’Neal, and Kaitlyn Ring of Surry Central High School;and Jordin Beasley, Angie Guarneros, Alexis Hutchens, Saylor Jennings and Betsy Perez-Martin of Surry Early College High School.
Due to the popularity of Northern’s first Camp Med last summer, Northern is offering two sessions this summer. The second Camp Med of the summer will be held July 17-21. Plans are for the camp to be held annually at Northern Regional Hospital.
Northwest Area Health Education Center is hosting 24 In-Person Camp Med programs across our 17-County region! Click here to view the whole list.
The Camp Med 2023 Virtual Summer Program provides more than 20 hours of on-line content designed to give students a fun and rewarding experience while gaining the knowledge and skills to help them make informed decisions about future careers in health.