Students Attend Health Care Careers Camp
Seven students from area high schools attended MedStart Summer Camp July 20-23 in Miles City. The camp was an intensive opportunity for young people to explore careers in healthcare.
The event was hosted by the Northeastern Montana Area Health Education Center. MedStart is part of a network of camps hosted across Montana, where students participate in interactive presentations, simulations and job shadowing with local healthcare professionals specializing in nursing, EMS, dentistry and radiology.
“The trip was really enjoyed by all,” Wolf Point High School science teacher Leslie Larson told NPI. “They have said that it has opened their eyes to a lot more possibilities in the medical field. They were given a lot of wonderful, hands-on opportunities, such as job shadowing at the local hospital, meeting with physical therapists at Montana Made, touring the ambulance and interviewing the EMTs. The EMTs taught them how to draw blood and they all got CPR certified.”
Larson said the trip was aimed at anyone considering a career in healthcare, not a specific student body.
“The opportunity was open to anybody that was interested,” Larson said. Attending students from Poplar and Wolf Point high schools included BreaElle Standing, Kevin Brock, Tanna Guldborg, Nora Hansen, Owen Moran, Tori Dimas and Maddison Knowlton.
Longtime Opportunity Bank agricultural and commercial loan officer Dan Moudree helped make camp attendance possible by organizing fundraising and getting community members interested and involved. “Dan is on the NEMHS board,” Larson said, “and I feel like the MedStart program has kind of fallen on deaf ears in the past, so he really wanted to showcase what a wonderful experience it could be for our kids. He took it upon himself to find scholarships for each of the kids to attend, as well as providing transportation to Miles City. He also organized a series of three different presentations, which I held through Zoom in my classroom. So it was these zoom calls that led up to providing all of the information for the MedStart camp.” Along with Moudree, Larson said important contacts included Montana Nurses Association CEO Vicky Bird and Paul Swift, who serves as assistant dean of academic programs for Montana State University College of Nursing.
“The kids Zoom called with Vicky,” Larson said, “Paul Swift and two contacts from the MedStart program. Anyone interested could reach out to Dan or myself, as well as Mrs Loendorf.”
Larson and Loendorf can be reached at Wolf Point High School. Moudree can be reached at Opportunity Bank or by calling 208-250-7198.
