Middle school and high school students are getting an opportunity to test the water of medical professions this week at the third annual
The event, coordinated by the Southwest Colorado Area Health Education Center, provides the 27 students a chance to learn about career opportunities in the health care field, said Kathleen McInnis, executive director of the education center.
“Our overall mission is to expand and improve the accessibility of health care by expanding and encouraging a diverse health care workforce,” McInnis said.
The students are exposed to the realities of the multitude of health care pathways they can pursue, and they get to practice the hands-on skills, said Jaime Fazzone, a fourth-year pharmacy student at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center and volunteer at the Health Career Camp.
“We’re hoping that these students can find some sort of interest in any type of the health care industry, whether it be pharmacy, nursing, medical – we had firefighters here as well, just some sort of interest to get them involved in health care,” Fazzone said.
On Wednesday, the students were given the chance to learn some of the basics of medical care before trying their hands at various tasks, such as suturing banana peels, giving shots to oranges, checking vital signs and bandaging wounds, she said.
Sadie McAliney said this was her second year at the camp.
“I just had a great time so I really wanted to come back and do it all again,” Sadie said.
The camp helped Sadie become aware of all the possible pathways available in health care and allowed her to explore those that interested her, she said.
After the hands-on sessions, students sat down with 25 health care professionals who volunteered their time for interviews about the realities of working in the medical field, McInnis said.
“It was nice for them to ask one-on-one questions to all these people in one location rather than trying to reach out on their own trying to find health care professionals around the community that would give them their time,” Fazzone said.
McInnis said she hopes the camp will inspire students to seek jobs in health care for multiple reasons, including financial ones.
“If we can encourage some of these kids to go on in school, they can stay here, they can make a living here, they can have a better chance at life,” she said.
The students were supposed to finish Wednesday observing a mock trauma scenario facilitated by Flight For Life and Durango Fire Protection District, McInnis said.
Unfortunately it was canceled because of inclement weather.
The camp will continue through the end of the week, with robotic limb demonstrations taking place Thursday and Friday, and the students will finish by volunteering in the community.
Additional information about the health education center and the Health Career Camp can be found at http://swcahec.org.
lukep@durangoherald.com
