LEXINGTON — Current high school students face an uncertain job world awaiting them following graduation amidst the current economic recession. Choosing the right career early in life can go a long way to ensuring future employment when the time is right for students to venture out on their own.

For the fifth straight year, Davidson County Schools (DCS) and Davidson County Community College are partnering on a program that gives students insight into possible careers in the health and medical fields. Camp Med, a three-day seminar for rising ninth and 10th graders in DCS, is being held at the DCCC campus this week, where students receive a hands-on experience with numerous facets of health and medical professions.

“These are careers that students may not be familiar with in the medical field,” Kim Hayes, program specialist for the DCS career and technical education department, said. “This gives them the opportunity to learn so much about careers they otherwise would not know as much about.”

A total of 31 students from the county’s six high schools were selected to take part in the program. More than 60 students went through the application process that included a combination of a written essay saying how they wanted to benefit from the program, two recommendations from teachers and grade point average.

On Wednesday, Mary Nell Loflin’s class at the Briggs Technology Center prepped students on how to dress and appear professional, while also showing them to use to a stethoscope and how to get water into a syringe.

“We teach them how to wash their hands appropriately and why that’s so important in health care,” said Loflin, a registered nurse and Camp Med instructor. “Everything from the simple task of washing their hands to seeing how medical students are trained. We’re tying to give them a very broad spectrum of career opportunities to this level of high school students.”

DCCC is providing students with access to several of its medical-field-related programs, such as the simulation lab where they can see how a patient may look in a medical circumstance, a visit to the medical technology and lab technician program, and EMS simulations.

“It’s really interesting and I’m having a lot of fun,” Joseph Wilson, a rising ninth grader at East Davidson High School, said. “I’m hoping this will help me be a better person and get a good career when I grow up. I think this will help us a lot and will get us more into it.”

Participants also will take a trip to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center where they will visit simulation labs used by medical students and other possible career professions.

“We’re trying to give them as many different career opportunities for exposure as possible,” said Loflin. “Everything from EMS level all the way up to the physician level, with all points covered in between. We go to the facilities and see what’s involved in not only getting the education but what’s involved in the hands-on training and then what the career is actually like in the workplace.”

Camp Med funding is provided through a Northwest Area Health Education Center grant and a DCS College Tech Prep grant.



Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.