Camp offers glimpse into health careers

BY KELLY URBAN
The Tribune-Democrat

CRESSON July 18, 2008 11:22 pm

— Do you know what a biochemical researcher does or, for that matter, a cyotechnologist?
Twenty high school students from across the state were busy this week learning about those professions and dozens more at the 10th annual Health Careers Awareness Camp at Mount Aloysius College.
Since Sunday, students interested in pursuing a career in health were attending workshops and job shadowing and basically getting their hands dirty finding the ins and outs of what it takes to succeed in these jobs.
The camp, which is hosted by the Southcentral Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center, wrapped up Friday with a graduation dinner.
“Our goal is to help students who are in limbo as to which career to pursue,” said Sherri Platt, a registered nurse and health educator with Southcentral Pennsylvania AHEC.
“We hope that by coming to the camp, students will be exposed to health careers they didn’t even know about.”
For Dana Thompson, a student at Warwick High School outside Lancaster, coming to the camp helped her realize that she wants to pursue a career in nursing.
“We’ve been able to look at a lot of professions, and it was really cool to job shadow,” said the 17-year-old, who attended the camp for the first time.
At first she was interested in working in the emergency room, but after job shadowing at Memorial Medical Center she’s now leaning towards critical care.
“It was eye opening to see what these people do for a living,” Thompson said.
Brittany Kerr, 17, a senior at Cambria Heights High School, said she wants to become an anesthesiologist and participating in the camp helped her solidify her choice.
“This is my first time here, and it’s been really fun,” she said. “It was more than just sitting in class and listening to a talk, because we got to do a lot of hands-on things like suturing and dissections.”
She added that she’d recommend the camp to others who have an interest in the health profession because you’re able to talk to people in that field who can offer insights.
Even when camp is over, Platt said, the staffers at the health education center keep in touch with the students and follow their progress.
“We have a 92 percent rate of those who come to camp and go on to a health profession,” she said.

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