Ever since he went through surgery as a child, incoming high schooler Garland Parker has wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon to help others.
As he looks toward his future career, he has gotten the opportunity to learn the ropes of health care work at the University of Toledo’s CampMed program.
Now in its 24th year, the program is hosting northwest Ohio ninth graders interested in the health care field, seeking to guide them through information sessions, interactive games, panel discussions, and mock medical practice activities.
The program, which began Thursday and continues Friday, primarily serves youth from rural and urban areas as well as people of color, many of whom are on track to be first-generation medical or college students.
“I think I have learned a lot today,” Mr. Parker said Thursday. “It’s been interesting to hear from the doctors and get the tools for my future career, so I can do this for others.”
Mr. Parker is one of 26 campers attending sessions, which are facilitated by Area Health Education Center coordinators and second-year medical students at UT who serve as counselors. Campers come from over a dozen schools across counties in the region, adding a sense of diversity among participants.
Facilitator Courtney Combs, director of the UT and Ohio Area Health Education Center programs, emphasized the importance of students learning from each other as well as from experienced professionals.
By bringing together those from backgrounds underrepresented in the medical field, she hopes the aspiring doctors will return to serve their communities and fill gaps in health services in their regions.
“There’s research that shows that communities receive better care from providers who look like them,” Ms. Combs said. “Just understanding the culture, food, values, things like that. So we want to expose all of our students who will go into medicine to a diverse population in marginalized communities in Ohio.”
For the duration of the program, students are split into two large groups named the Leukocytes and the Erythrocytes and splinter off into smaller groups for activities.
One of the program’s first sessions involved students performing mock physical exams on each other, kicked off by a demonstration by Dr. Luisa Corpuz, a family medicine physician.
Camper Jalyn Guilford sat before the assembled students as Dr. Corpuz tapped her knee with a small rubber hammer, checked her ears with a light, and listened to her chest and stomach with a stethoscope, drawing giggles from the others.
Miss Guilford said she could see herself in either sports or forensic medicine. As a basketball and football fan, she is interested in sports medicine, but her middle-school science class and experiences watching the TV show CSI drew her into forensics.
She hopes taking high school specialized biology and chemistry courses will give her the academic and professional resources to advance in the field. So far, CampMed has been a helpful introduction.
“High school will definitely help me get to where I want to be,” she said. “And this is a nice experience to help me figure out what I want to do.”
The medical student counselors provide important guidance on what students should expect on their potential career paths. On the second day of the program, they will sit on a panel to discuss the ups and downs of their experiences at school, helping students prepare for the realities of a medical education.
Counselor Tricia Aho, a first-generation medical student, has had a positive experience advising students. She said they have shown off their intelligence and determination in the program’s earliest sessions.
“It’s fun to see all of the campers are opening up and coming out of their shells,” Ms. Aho said. “I think it’s super important. It’s a good chance to see what a career in health care and medicine is like and somewhere you can see yourself.”
Interactive activities educate students on the basics. One escape room game presented campers with an “alien invasion” scenario in which the aliens are stuck on puzzles to determine how humans preserve wellbeing.
The campers scattered around a study area to figure out the names of the eight dimensions of wellness, picking up clues in the form of letter mazes, fill-in-the-blank puzzles, and riddles. Two students nearing the solution of a maze puzzle said, “We’re slaying.”
Later sessions will introduce students to pre-surgery programs, emergency medicine, and ways to show compassion for patients as they determine diagnoses. Others acquaint students with mock organs, human anatomy, and medical facilities.
Medical school can be difficult for any student. But Dr. Corpuz told the assembly of campers to persevere through challenges and continue to believe in themselves. She recalled her own father once telling her she would not be able to make it in the medical field.
“Don’t let anyone stop you or tell you you can’t make it,” she insisted. “Just work hard, stay disciplined, and make sacrifices, and you can do it.”
First Published June 15, 2023, 8:22 p.m.
