Students explore medical careers at Scrubs Camp

by Tracy Lee Karner

news@thenewsleaders.com

Days filled with blood may not seem like fun, but for local middle school students interested in a career in health care, the inaugural Scrubs Camp hosted by St. Cloud Technical & Community College and St. Cloud State University on June 20-22 was just what the doctor ordered.

After a morning check-in with breakfast and an orientation during which the 80 students put on professional scrubs, the learning began. The students’ first lessons were in moulage and mental health.

Moulage is “the art of applying mock injuries for the purpose of simulating real-world experience for emergency medical training,“ according to Moulage Sciences and Training’s website.

“They make the doctors practice with fake blood,” said Cris Villagra, a middle school student from Sauk Rapids, pointing to a bloody gash on his right wrist.

Students used brushes and sponges, modeling wax, synthetic blood gel and makeup in ranges of red, blue, burgundy and yellow to create realistic injuries on themselves and one another. By the end of the session, every participant bore a wound.

Kelsi Linn had a nasty purple bruise on her right temple and cheek. Eric Liveringhouse sponged it on with makeup. The Sartell students participated in Scrubs Camp because they plan to become doctors.

Savannah Sarpan of Sauk Rapids had a nickel-sized, bleeding puncture wound on her left forearm.

“I thought it would be a cool experience,” she said about why she signed up for Scrubs Camp.

She is considering becoming a surgeon and hopes to find out whether she likes the medical field well enough.

In another session, students learned the signs of mental illness aren’t usually as obvious as a black eye or puncture wound.

Jody Lyons, presenting for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said people suffering from depression may use humor to hide what’s going on inside them.

“I used to make fun of myself first, so nobody else would,” she said. “People thought it was just part of my personality.”

Her message included the news that mental illnesses are treatable.

“The first step would be therapy,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s working out (with a therapist) the problems that are going on. And sometimes it takes therapy plus medication.”

After Lyons’ presentation, students asked thoughtful questions, including, “What if your parents won’t listen, or don’t believe you have a problem?”

Lyons suggested it’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor.

Students also gathered in the SCTCC Commons where 40 CPR training mannequins were lined up on the floor.

“Four out of five cardiac arrests happen at home,” said CPR instructor Renae Illies. “And 70 percent of people feel helpless when it happens at home because they don’t know how to do CPR or haven’t been trained recently. Unfortunately 32 percent of people (suffering cardiac arrest) don’t get the assistance they need.”

Training middle school students in CPR is part of the Take Heart St. Cloud initiative. That program is working to improve cardiac survival rates through community education.

To begin students’ training, the instructors gave a dramatic on-stage demonstration of a full CPR series. Then students had the opportunity to practice, multiple times, hands-only CPR (without breaths) on mannequins.

Compression CPR, without mouth-to-mouth breathing, has “pretty much the same effect for the first five minutes as CPR with breaths,” Illies said.

Observing the 80 students at work, who were all still wearing the wounds they made in moulage class, Illies remarked: “Wow, a lot of you look like you need medical attention.”

Students came to learn and to have fun at Scrubs Camp for a multitude of reasons. Some were there because their parents signed them up.

Alexandra Freihammer, a Sauk Rapids-Rice eighth-grader, attended Scrubs camp because she already knows her plans for the future.

“I did anatomy and physiology as an extracurricular and I loved it,” Freihammer said. “And then I knew I wanted to be a doctor.”

Lillian Kuhn, who is also a Sauk Rapids-Rice student, attended Scrubs Camp to explore options.

“I want to try new experiences and see what I want to do,” Kuhn said. “Because I really don’t know what I want to be yet.”

Jennifer Potter, SCTCC’s Director of Outreach for Health and the Scrubs Camp administrator, said the main purpose of the camp is to provide a way for young people to explore career options.

“There are middle-schoolers who want to start exploring health careers,” she said. “And we encourage that because college planning actually starts at the middle-school age.”

The first morning was just the beginning of an eventful three-day exploration. After CPR class, the campers were treated to an American-style bento bowl, provided by Quarks American Bento restaurant of St. Cloud: quinoa, brown rice and white rice with chicken or steak, loaded up with fresh vegetables and topped with one of six sauces. An orientation in nutrition-based health careers followed, and then SCTCC campus tours.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, campers were exposed to the science of regenerative medicine and stem cells, a wellness boot camp and career opportunities in biomedicine, nursing and dentistry. They toured local health providers’ facilities – Good Shepherd Community in Sauk Rapids and CentraCare Health Plaza in St. Cloud. And they participated in health-care problem-solving, with real-life problems.

Local health providers will give careful consideration to the best of the students’ proposed solutions, Potter said.

“We could not pull this camp together unless we had these great community partners,” she said.

HealthForce Minnesota started Scrubs Camp in 2008 to give those interested in health careers a chance to imagine themselves in college. This year, HealthForce expanded its program to include SCSU and SCTCC. But bringing Scrubs Camp to the community is expensive, so those local schools partnered with local agencies.

St. Cloud School District 742, CentraCare Health, Good Shepherd Community, Rejuv Medical, Center for Diagnostic Imaging and Northway Dental Associates assisted with programming needs. Quarks American Bento,  Lily’s Wings Burgers & Things and Coborn’s provided breakfasts and lunches for the campers. Through the partners’ generous contributions, every student’s tuition was lowered from $200 down to $100. In addition, 27 campers received scholarships.

Potter said program providers hope some of the students who participated will become medical professionals serving the greater St. Cloud area.