Medcamp For Minority Students Turns 20

 ROOTSTOWN, OHIO – For 20 years, the MEDCAMP program held at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) has recruited a total of 950 young people from rural and urban areas, and encouraged them to pursue careers in health care. This year, 50 high school freshmen from across Northeast Ohio attended the three-day program sponsored by Area Health Education Centers (AHEC).

MEDCAMP is designed to stimulate students’ interests in the basic sciences related to medicine and pharmacy, and to expose them to career opportunities in those fields. Students are given “hands-on” experiences in biomedical science workshops involving research, clinical problem-solving and an introduction to the fields of clinical medicine and pharmacy. The importance of studying mathematics and science in high school is stressed by NEOUCOM faculty members and current medical students acting as camp counselors.

While at MEDCAMP, students assisted pharmacists, physicians, NEOUCOM professors and students in performing hands-on activities including taking blood pressure and identifying bacteria under light microscopes. Participating students completed a case study on a fictitious patient presented their finding on the last day of MEDCAMP to faculty and parents.

A breakfast held on July 17 was an exceptional event for all of those attending this year’s program. A commendation acknowledging AHEC and MEDCAMP’s 20-year anniversary was presented to AHEC by Dr. Jay Williamson, interim dean of NEOUCOM’s College of Medicine, on behalf of Ohio State Sen. Tom Sawyer and Ohio State Rep. Stephen Dyer.

AHEC was initiated in Ohio to promote primary care practice and to educate allied health students about the needs of medically underserved populations. The AHEC program helps bring the resources of academic medicine to address local community health needs. NEOUCOM participates with six other Ohio medical schools in implementing the AHEC Program. AHEC serves 14 counties in Northeast Ohio.

The Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) is a community-based, public institution offering both a doctor of medicine (M.D.) and a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. The colleges’ educational partners include teaching hospitals, community pharmacies, boards of health and four northeast Ohio public universities. Through these and other collaborative arrangements, the colleges participate in the Consortium of Eastern Ohio Master of Public Health program and offer graduate-level coursework and research opportunities leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering. NEOUCOM is a founding member of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.