Nearly three dozen teenagers entering their first year of high school recently received a glimpse of what it’s like working as a physician during The University of Toledo’s annual CampMed program.
The two-day camp is an intensive, hands-on educational experience for students who have demonstrated achievement in science and have an interest in medicine as a possible career.
Dawn Green, far right, a clinical simulation and research associate at The University of Toledo, speaks with attendees of CampMed at the Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center.
Campers are able to try their hand at suturing, practice forming a cast and learn how to do CPR. They also receive tours of the Jacobs Interprofessional and Immersive Simulation Center and other diagnostic, treatment and laboratory settings.
“We want to inspire and encourage these students to help them realize that a career in medicine or research is a realistic goal,” said Courtney K. Combs, director of the UToeldo and Ohio Area Health Education Center program.
This year’s camp — which returned after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic — included 35 students from 18 high schools in 11 northwest Ohio counties.
Most of the students who attend CampMed are underrepresented minorities in medicine, from underserved rural or urban communities, or the first in their family planning to attend college.
For some students, CampMed is their first time on a college campus.
“We are providing that exposure and letting them know if they work hard and are serious about their schoolwork now, this could be an option,” Combs said.
The camp is organized by the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the UToledo Ohio Area Health Education Center program.
The first CampMed was held in 1998.
