The Center's Guide to Recruitment, Retention and Workforce Development

Health Careers Summer Camps for Students

Hospital-based summer programs for teens range from traditional junior volunteering to summer camps and paid internships. Career exploration has become their primary focus. The best of these programs blend work experience with memorable activities and build ongoing relationships with healthcare facilities and teams.

Camp Mount Carmel: Adventures in Healthcare was named a best workforce practice by the Ohio Hospital Association. Students entering grades 7, 8 and 9 enjoyed a full week of activities that included job shadowing, observation of live surgical procedures via videoconference, art activities and a session on art therapy at the Columbus Museum of Art, an outreach visit to a community soup kitchen and an overnight stay in a College of Nursing dormitory. Mount Carmel College of Nursing (Columbus, OH) sponsored the camp. Healthcare professionals in a variety of fields and specially selected student nurses served as camp counselors. For more information, go to ohanet.org.

MedQuest is an annual health careers summer camp produced in two communities by northeastern Vermont’s Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Approximately 30 high school students representing a number of schools attend each session. Campers are nominated by their schools. Activities include tours and job shadowing at local hospitals, recreational activities and classes on topics such as death and dying, infection control, teen depression and stress management, leadership development, financial aid for college, alternative therapies and CPR. Each day ends with reflection on the day’s experiences. Numerous organizations representing the local medical communities contribute time and support. Former campers and their parents often volunteer for succeeding sessions. For more information, go to nevahec.org.

A Texas AHEC serving 20 counties from Austin to Victoria conducts summer camps designed to introduce rural high school students from underserved populations to health careers. The five-day camps include CPR training, math and science labs, hands-on health labs, tours of major medical centers and health professions schools and activities to build communication skills and self-esteem. For more information, go to pvahec.org.

Closer to home, Methodist Healthcare-Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center (Memphis) obtained grant funding from THA’s Center for Health Workforce Development (CHWDT) to support year two of its Student Health Internship Program (SHIP). SHIP is a six-week program that allows students to rotate through clinical areas and attend classroom presentations. Each participant—all HOSA students—receives a $500 stipend. Participating departments include nursing, pharmacy, respiratory, surgery, rehabilitation, extended care and lab. Eleven students participated in the 2002 pilot program; 19 in 2003. Six of the 2002 participants now are in college pursuing health careers. For more information, contact Donna Pope, corporate director of staffing services, Methodist Healthcare, 901-726-8447, poped@methodisthealth.org. The program was featured as a best practice poster presentation at THA’s Healthcare Workforce Summit on October 14, 2003.

Coordinated Health Services of Knoxville allocated funds from a CHWDT grant to support summer health careers camps hosted by five CHS member organizations: Covenant Health, St. Mary’s Health System, Blount Memorial Hospital, Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee and the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Fifteen students selected from area middle and high schools attended each camp, consisting of five half-day sessions. Campers visited the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, where they learned basic skills, including taking a blood pressure, feeding a patient and making an occupied bed. Hospital departments, including cardiovascular services, radiology, pharmacy, laboratory and rehab services, also were toured. Students’ parents were invited to attend a closing ceremony. For more information, contact Angie Merriman, Covenant Health, Amerriman@CovHlth.com, 865-531-5487.

SOWEGA-AHEC in Albany, GA, offers a Health Careers Camp Manual for hospitals, schools and other organizations. The manual includes step-by-step instructions for planning a three-day camp. It also contains sample schedules, brochures, letters, certificates and bonus activities. SOWEGA-AHEC developed the 51-page, $50 manual from its own experience conducting camps for middle and high school students. SOWEGA-AHEC also publishes a camp manual specifically for use by long-term care facilities. Go to sowega-ahec.org for more information.