Teens explore medical fields at Southeast Missouri Hospital camps

Jonathan Little,16, of Jackson described the experience as surreal.

"They cut her open and pulled all of her intestines out," he said, explaining the surgery he observed at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Little was one of 16 high school boys attending the hospital's three-day health-care professionals camp this week. Students shadowed hospital employees, learned about career opportunities and attended sessions at the hospital's College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

"I've never seen a live surgery before," said Little, who will be a junior at Notre Dame Regional High School.

He watched doctors remove a colon polyp during an operation and shadowed workers in the heart catheterization lab and recovery room.

Riley Huber, left, and Jonathan Little, both 16, watch a Cath Lab procedure Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at Southeast Missouri Hospital during the Guys Only 2009 Healthcare Professionals Camp. (Kit Doyle)

Little said he wants to work in sports medicine or physical therapy, and the camp has reaffirmed his goals.

The camp's mission is to get students to look at career options early, said Easy Stilson, who manages the camp.

"They don't want to spend four years in nursing school and find out they don't want to be a nurse," she said.

The hospital has two summer camps for high-schoolers, one for males and one for females. Students stay in dorms at Southeast Missouri State University.

At the boys camp the operating room always ranks higher. For the girls' camp, which occurs in June, working with babies tends to be more popular, Stilson said.

She said seven girls also fainted during the camp.

"They all got up, finished the week and loved it," she said.

The girls program is larger with 38 students attending, some from as far away as Iowa, Stilson said. The boys camp drew students from as far away as northern St. Louis.

There are evening activities, including a scavenger hunt that took them around town looking for items like an advertisement for a health-care position and free promotional pens. During sessions at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, students learned to take vital signs and clean wounds, Stilson said. Students also listened to presentations and talked to professionals about their career paths.

Dylan Essner, 17, of Cape Girardeau said he observed exactly what he wants to be: a nurse anesthetist.

While in the operating room, he watched doctors fix a broken jaw and saw how nurse anesthetists administer anesthesia during surgery.

"Surgerywise, you're never going to have the same surgery twice," said Essner, who will be a senior at Notre Dame Regional High School. "It's not a repetitive task."

He said he is bulking up on science classes during his senior year to prepare for college.

"It's a lot of schooling and a lot of money to get there, but I think it's worth it," he said.

Saint Francis Medical Center also has an educational shadowing program available year-round. It is available to anyone who is at least a junior in high school. Participants can shadow professionals in various health-care fields for several hours. The program is available through the hospital's Education Center; call 332-5107 for more information.

abusch@semissourian.com

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