High School Students
Jr. MedStars 2012
The second Jr. MedStars event was held at OHSU on November 10-12 with over 40 new and returning students in attendance. Enthusiastic students arrived with their parents and guardians Thursday night, eager to learn more about health care careers. After a brief introduction and some fun ice breaker games, students were assigned rooms and left to get acquainted with roommates for the rest of the evening and to prepare for the full day of activities ahead. The students had an early start, beginning at the OHSU Center for Health and Healing, breaking into small groups and were able to speak with a variety of medical professionals. The students were very receptive to what they had to say, behaving professionally and asking lots of questions. The healthcare professionals were great with the students; they talked about how their passions brought them to their respective careers, gave specifics about the education required and gave the students advice about choosing the right paths for themselves.Following their time with the OHSU students and staff, they took the tram up to Marquam Hill for a lunch time presentation by Ava Isadora Asher, medical student at New York Medical College, who shared her experiences. She gave the students an insight into the hard work and time commitment to become a doctor. After lunch they headed to a surgery presentation lead by Dr. Spight. He started off showing them proper surgery attire by dressing up one of the students. He had brought along with him several other surgeons and surgery residents to give their perspective about the field. They all had fascinating insights into surgery, and once again, the healthcare professionals shared their journeys and some encouraging words for the students. The surgery staff was then gracious enough to take the students into the OHSU surgery skills lab where real medical students come to learn and hone their skills. The students learned how to suture, use an ultrasound machine, work with minimally invasive surgery tools, and wash their hands properly for surgery. These were just some of the activities the students were involved with.
When the students were done with their medical adventure at OHSU, they were whisked away to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to see Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds which focused primarily on the human brain. It was wonderful to see the students' strong interest in the exhibit. At one point a group of students were hovering by a skeletal system quizzing each other on all the different bones that they knew. The looks on their faces while walking through Body Worlds were of intrigue and excitement; it was obvious that they learned quite a bit from what they were seeing.
After all the excitement for the day and exhausted from the day's activities, the students were all asleep by 10pm. The next morning the students were sad to say goodbye and see their time end. When the parents did arrive the students were eager to tell them about all the things they had seen and done. It is through programs like Jr. MedStars that we are able to nurture the desires within our youth to join the medical field, in hopes that these desires will turn into actions. By supporting programs that expose rural students to these possibilities, we increase the chance that they will pursue their dreams and come back to serve their local communities. Staff saw firsthand the passion that these high school students had for a career in the medical field and how much this program sparked their interest in careers they didn't even know existed within the medical field.
The following students from the southwest region were chosen to participate:
Ariel Barlow-Crogh, Crater High School
Emily Bennett, Rogue River Junior/Senior High School
Andrew Berry, Joseph Lane High School
Riley Dillard-Boyd, South Medford High School
Clare Dittemore, Roseburg High School
Cody Early, Roseburg High School
Karli Gabica, Eagle Point High School
James Hawes, Rogue River Junior/Senior High School
Ashley Hogue, Douglas High School
Eston Hughey, Jolane Middle School
Stephanie Leal, Talent Middle School
Gabriel Perry, Crow High School
Cole Van Anrooy, Roseburg High School
Ashley Weaver, Roseburg High School
Austin Weaver, Roseburg High School
Garrett Wedge, Roseburg High School
Chase Whitten, Crater High School
Kayla Winston, Roseburg High School
Camp MD 2011
Camp M.D. 2011 was held from August 7-11 on the campus of Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Participants explored a variety of health and science careers through hands-on activities including compounding with a pharmacist, backboarding with a paramedic, suturing with a medical student, and crime scene data analysis with SOU faculty. The students also participated in a scenario in the OHSU Nursing Simulation Lab and attended presentations about the fields of physical therapy, wilderness medicine and dentistry.
In addition, students were able to shadow a local healthcare provider and tour either Providence Medford Medical Center or Ashland Community Hospital.
"Body-ology" Summer Science Camp
"Body-ology", a week long summer science camp, was a joint venture of Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County and Lane Community College Florence Center held from July 25-29, 2011 at the Lane Community College Science Lab. The goals of the camp were to provide an active hands-on and age appropriate learning environment to enable middle school students to practice scientific exploration and achieve basic understanding of five major human body systems; inspire middle school students through fun science activities to consider a career in science or health care; and introduce middle school students and their parents to educational resources and opportunities at Lane Community College and Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County.
Each half day session covered one of five major body organ systems: guts, muscles and skeleton, brain, eyes and ears, which incorporated Area Health Education Center's In-A-Box curriculum. Each session included a warm up video with Bill Nye, the Science Guy, a fifteen minute "Meet the Professional" segment, and four stations of hands on activities based on the daily topic. All topics were aligned with Oregon Department of Education middle school science curriculum. The "In-a-box" curriculum was produced by the Oregon Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and professionals at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Each day included a movement segment such as dance or juggling as well as healthy snacks and beverages.
Laura Smith, MS Biology and Coordinator of the "Science Is Elementary" program for Siuslaw Schools, was the Camp Curriculum Coordinator and Lead Instructor. Mary Jeanne Kuhar, MD, Dean of LCC Florence, was the Camp Administrative Coordinator, and Melissa Wilcox, Teen Program Coordinator at Boys and Girls Club, coordinated transportation, registration and volunteer screening.
The camp was given financial support by Peace Health Siuslaw Region, Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County, and Lane Community College Perkins program. Several community individuals donated scholarships to cover student enrollment fees and others volunteered their time each afternoon.
Sixteen students enrolled in the camp and 13 students completed the weeklong camp. There were 8 boys and 5 girls. Twelve students were from the Siuslaw School District and one student, visiting his grandmother who lives in Florence, was from the Tualatin School District.
Students filled out a "Pre-box" survey form on the second day. They then filled out a "Post-box" survey form on the final day. Additionally, students were asked at the end of the week which activities they preferred and for suggestions for any future camps. Overall, students (and their parents or grandparents) were quite enthusiastic about the week-long camp. They particularly enjoyed the hands on projects and dissection of the sheep brain and cow eye. They also liked the daily movement activities (especially dancing) and snacks (brain berries aka blueberries were a favorite.) On the post camp survey forms, all students indicated a high level of importance in science and technology solving health care problems as well as the importance of team work. There also seemed to be a slight increase in the awareness of a number of different types of health care professionals involved in the health care team.
MedStars 2011
MedStars, an intensive five-day program, was held July 26 - 30, 2011 at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland. Forty-two high school students from across Oregon participated in MedStars, which included hands-on activities such as surgery skills, clinical skills, nursing simulations and dentistry. The students also received tours of the Emergency Department at OHSU and Station 4 of the Portland Fire Department. In addition, the students attended a presentation by Donate Life Northwest and sessions with pharmacists, chiropractors, osteopathic physicians, researchers, as well as speech and music therapists.
Jr. MedStars 2011
Jr. MedStars 2011 was held at Pacific University in Forest Grove. Students chose one of the following program dates to attend: Tuesday, June 28 - Thursday, June 30 or Thursday, June 30 - Saturday, July 1. Approximately 70 students from Oregon were accepted to participate in the program overall.
After dinner on the first night, students listened to a presentation given by paramedics with Forest Grove Fire & Rescue. Students were able to practice some skills performed by paramedics such as ventilation. During the next day, students travelled to the Hillsboro campus of Pacific University, where they learned about the various health professions training programs offered at the University. Students were able to choose three workshops to attend based on their career interests. In these workshops, students learned about the responsibilities of specific professionals and performed activities typical of these careers led by Pacific faculty and students.
Careers that were represented include: dental hygiene, healthcare administration, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and professional psychology.
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