High Schoolers Explore Medical Field at Scrubs Camp

They learn about everything from nursing to cardiovascular technology

MOORHEAD, Minn. –High schoolers are scrubbing in and learning about all things medical at Scrubs Camp, a partnership between M State, MSUM, and HealthForce Minnesota.

Camp attendee Katelyn Pagel, a rising senior from GFW High School, says she’s always wanted to go into the medical field.

“Just like helping people, just has always been a dream of mine because I always like helping people, making them smile, making them feel better in any way I can,” she said.

A lover of the show Grey’s Anatomy, she’s now here at Scrubs Camp where she’s joining dozens of other high schoolers as they learn the ins and outs of everything from nursing to cardiovascular technology.

“Our biggest thing is to break the, not the cliché, but that nursing is the only career or doctors are the only career in the health sciences, the healthcare industry, there’s so much more than those two that we just kind of automatically think of,” Megan Adamczyk, K-12 collaboration manager at M State, said.

The camp has been going on for four years, and some students have even gone more than once or signed up for a medical program after high school.

Organizers say the goal is to meet the growing demands of the healthcare industry by getting students interested early on.

“What we’re trying to do is expose them to and inform them of different career options in the medical field that have awesome wages, they may only take two years,” Adamczyk said.

One of the skills they are learning is basic suturing, where they practice stitching together a simulated wound.

“All the presenters are really into what they’re doing, it’s not like they’re just doing it halfway, they’re doing it fully so we all understand it,” Pagel said. “It feels like we’re actually here, learning it for a career instead of at a camp.”

Students also get to stay in the dorms at the camp to get a taste of college life.