LewisGale Medical Center hosted 22 middle school students from local schools this summer for Camp Healthcare 2011. This is the sixth year the event has been held giving students the opportunity to experience various healthcare careers in a way they would never be able to otherwise. The camp was held from August 1 – August 5.
“Camp Healthcare is a great program because it gives the students who are interested in a career as a health professional the chance to see what it would be like, hands-on and in the actual environment,” said Jean Moreland, R.N., Emergency Department Education Specialist. “It also exposes them to a variety of different careers that are all healthcare related. They get the chance to interact with healthcare professionals and ask them questions about what their jobs are like.”
Special features this year included ventilating a baby in labor and delivery, performing inner active knee surgery on the computer and doing laparoscopic surgery on a “watermelon belly”. The campers also visited various departments in the hospital including the rehab unit, emergency room, the pathology lab and radiology department.
On the final day, the students “graduated”, and had the opportunity to share with their families everything they had learned over the course of the camp.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students who are interested in science and healthcare to get a ‘first hand look’ at the hospital,” said Nancy Boyer, R.N., Director of Surgical Services. “They are introduced to many different types of careers in the healthcare field. Campers have always been surprised at the many different opportunities there are in healthcare.”
The event involved more than 12 hospital departments working together, along with outside agencies such as the Salem EMS.
