News

Scrubs Camp comes to Middle School

By Scott Wagar

03/17/2015

The University of North Dakota’s Rural Collaborative Opportunities for Occupational Learning in Health (R-COOL-Health) was in Bottineau on Wednesday, March 11, to educate 65 area seventh graders on careers in the health care profession, which granted the students the opportunity to interact with different occupations in the medical field.

 “The R-COOL-Health Scrubs Camps aim to increase awareness, interest and understanding of health careers available in rural North Dakota through creative and interactive activities,” said Nicole Massmann, communication coordinator for the Center for Rural Health. 

“The Bottineau Scrubs Camp features hands-on experience in several health career tracks including emergency medicine, nursing, physical therapy, dental, medical coding, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and more.

“The students partake in suturing a wound and obtaining vital signs on a mock patient. They learn about blood typing, filling prescriptions, administering vaccines and the side effects of a stroke.

“Presentation from all aspects of health care inform the students of the care options available in healthcare, particularly locally,” she continued.

Informing students about medical careers is important in this day and age considering that there is an estimated average in the nation that the U.S. will be short 124,000 physicians and a half a million nurses by 2025. 

“The current projected shortage of health care professionals in North Dakota and across the nation is creating a critical demand for an increase health care work force,” Massmann said.