Prepping for the future: Scrubs Camp lets area students get a taste of different medical professions

Summer camp: swimming, canoeing, hiking, arts and crafts, suturing chicken parts.

Suturing chicken parts?

For 44 tri-county teens, this year's summer camp memories will include watching doctors perform surgery, and doing a little "healing" of their own.

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Scrubs camp

Summer camp: swimming, canoeing, hiking, arts and crafts, suturing chicken parts. Suturing chicken parts? For 44 tri-county teens, this year's summer camp memories will include watching doctors perform surgery, and doing a little "healing" of their own. The campers took turns suturing and cauterizing "wounded" pieces of raw chicken during Roper St. Francis Healthcare's weeklong Scrubs Camp earlier this month. Years from now, many of the youths may be doctors and nurses performing those procedures on people, camp organizers said.

The campers took turns suturing and cauterizing "wounded" pieces of raw chicken during Roper St. Francis Healthcare's weeklong Scrubs Camp earlier this month. Years from now, many of the youths may be doctors and nurses performing those procedures on people, camp organizers said.

Colleen Cooney, media relations manager for Roper St. Francis, said the campers "are immersed in all things hospital, ranging from the emergency department and physical therapy to the operating room and general nursing."

The students, ages 13-15, spent time with doctors, nurses, radiologists and other specialists who spoke about the jobs they do and the education needed to enter each field, Cooney said.

"The kids really like it. It's kind of a niche summer camp," Cooney said.

Hospital personnel usually wear blue, loose-fitting clothing called scrubs, but camp personnel like to say that SCRUBS is an acronym for "Students Can Really Use Bedside Skills," she said.

Many campers said the experience was fun, informative and valuable to their future ambitions.

"I am learning stuff every day," said Calynn Dioses, 15, of Wando High School.

Calynn is considering a career in neurology, and said after spending time with a physician, she learned "what it's like to be in a hospital, and if you like it or not."

Destiny Connors, 14, of Fort Dorchester High School, aims to be a pediatric nurse. She said she especially enjoyed time spent with nurses. "It's fun and you learn a lot."

Clinical Nurse Manager Cathy Hallman-Kenner, camp director for Roper Hospital, said the camp is a branch of the year-round youth mentoring program offered by her department.

Campers become certified in CPR and other lifesaving techniques, and in small groups not only shadow doctors and nurses but also visit radiology, pharmacy, dietary, physical therapy, engineering and other departments.

"They visit just about every department at the hospital so they get to see what running a hospital involves," Hallman-Kenner said. "We give them lots of experience so they are not as cold when they go into the programs they pick."

They do not go into the emergency room, she said.

Campers attend luncheons with mentors, and are often full of questions.

"Some ask how much money they will make," Hallman-Kenner said.

Nijah Payne, 13, a rising ninth-grader at Wando High School, wants to be nutritionist.

"I had lunch with a dietitian today, and she told me what she does, and how much she's needed," Nijah said.

Nijah, Calynn and Destiny were among the 22 students who attended the Roper Hospital camp. At St. Francis, Zack Ellison, 13, of Northwood Academy said he's glad he learned "CPR and first aid, and a bunch of cool stuff that can save your life."

Zack is considering a career in cardiovascular radiology, and said he enjoyed watching X-rays, CT scans and MRIs being made.

"They just basically showed us how things work," he added.

Cagney Irving, 14, of Bishop England High School wants to become an endocrinologist. She said some members of her family have diabetes, and she hopes to learn all about the disease and to find ways to treat or prevent it.

She said she enjoyed time in the hospital's physical therapy area, radiology and MRI labs and the rehabilitation pool.

Nicole Aiken, 14, of Garrett Academy also was impressed by the hospital's physical therapy facilities and said she would like to be an OB-GYN nurse.

"I liked seeing the physical therapy room and how they help people to get over their injuries and get their strength back," she said.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at 937-5560.