This is the first year that the VBFA has been in existence and it houses over 500 9th grade Freshman students. The school functions out of what used to be Coleman Junior High School. The student population in Van Buren, AR has grown so large that school officials officials decided that a big change was in order. Coleman Junior High School consisted of 8th and 9th grade students. Now the 8th grade students are located at Northridge Middle School. Coleman Junior High School underwent a name change and is now home to all Van Buren high school Freshman.

This was some good fun for the students. They learned how the atomic slime can “light up” with a black light and how it can act as a liquid and a solid at the same time. This is why it is called a “Non-Newtonian Fluid.” The students learned all about monomer liquids, which can flow easily and are not sticky. They also learned how, in some substances, the monomers are linked together in long chains of molecules, know as polymers, which do not flow easily. This was a great learning experience for these young students.

If you are interested in starting a Club Scrub at your school or organization, contact the Pre-health Professions Recruiter in your area for more information.

Also, look below to check out all of our future doctors!

Dr. Lepore is familiar with many of the challenges faced by physicians and other care providers in rural areas, from relative isolation to limited resources to hectic work schedules.  On the flip side, he exemplifies many of reasons so many doctors and other healthcare workers remain in rural practice.  These reasons include increased autonomy, diverse  procedural and diagnostic opportunities, deeper personal relationships with patients, and even the option to provide healthcare for oatmeal cookies!

To learn more about what fuels Dr. Lepore, listen to the story yourself – Nantucket Doctor’s Experience Gives Insight.  Also, if you think you have the drive and spirit to contribute to the well-being of a rural community in Arkansas, contact your area pre-health professional recruiter today, and take advantage of the many programs designed to help you find your dream job in health care.

During this paticular program, students were given a presentation about careers in the healthcare field and what education and personality is needed for that job. To help the students develop customer service in healthcare, they were part of a tour throughout St. Bernards Medical Center. Customer Service Manager, Tiffany Horton, explained the importance of providing the best atmosphere and care for the patient. In addition, students learned about radiology programs and viewed many x-rays of broken bones, gunshot wounds, a severed hand, and even one where a baby looks straight at them.

Morgan McQuay and Jake Erwin from Pocahontas High School, learn how to take blood pressure the proper way.

Dr. Mary Hartwig and Tamara King, nurses at AHEC Northeast, gave us great hands-on experience with blood pressure and injections. This was also a great time to bring up the topic of “Health Literacy”. Many patients, especially diabetics, have to understand completely the process of giving an injection. If the nurse or doctor does not explain it in a way they can understand, the patient can suffer.

Two AHEC NE residents, Dr. Leah Fryer and Dr. Aaron Mitchell, gave the students information about preparing for college, medical school, and residency. Students were able to get lots of answers to many questions they had and realized that family practice physicians can do lots of things and are not limited to working in one area of the state.

“I like to Move It, Move It” was the title of Community Outreach Director Sandra Lusby’s presentation. She gave great information about chronic disease and the health of people throughout the northeast part of the state. But it wasn’t just all talk and no action! We had a great time doing aerobic, strenthening, and flexibility exercises to music.

In the afternoon, students became detectives. Kristy Caldwell, UAMS College of Public Health Recruiter, spoke on what public health is and then conducted a fun exercise where the students break down a case study and provide solutions to the problem.

We wrapped up the day with a fun game of Med-Pro Mix-Up, where students got creative in order for their teams to guess the answer to their clues. Students commented that acting out “chicken pox” or “obstetrician” with no words was definitely a fun experience.

As the students prepared to leave, we gave them a crash course on college prep. This included a checklist of things to do as a junior and a senior and the Do’s and Don’ts of preparing for college.

One student had this to say on their evaluation, “This clinic provided me with an extravagent amount of new information. Thank you for offering this amazing experience, I learned a lot!”

Dr. Mary Hartwig, APN, shows Tamela Foshee and Mary Catherine Young from Brookland High School the proper way to give an injection.

At AHEC Northeast, we accept 20 students into our competitive and exceptional program. These students have stellar resumes, touting community service, high GPA’s, participation in extra-curricular activities, and excellent recommendations.  Our students not only gain an insight on the careers they are interested in, but they build friendships, make connections, and truly see what the world of health care is all about.

Each day after shadowing, students will share with each other the experiences from the day. In those moments, you see the true affect this program has on each person. The compassion shows as they tell of the elderly man in CCU who coded and had to be brought back to life. Or even when they talk about the funny conversation they had with a family member of a patient at the hospital. M.A.S.H. isn’t about the number of students in a program or how many activities they did in a day… it’s the impact from that one person or activity that made them realize, “I want a future in healthcare”.

AHEC Northeast MASH Class of 2012

We have had one camp of CHAMPS this summer and are planning another one in July. Students learn about various health careers with hands-on activities. They also walked our fitness track for donations to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Organization which was their community service portion of the camp. We will have around 40 students participate in CHAMPS this summer.

MASH was ongoing again this summer too! We had 14 students participating in our MASH program from Phillips, Monroe, Craighead,  and Lee Counties. Our students took several field trips which included: the MASH Crash in Pine Bluff, the ROPES Course at EACC and their trip to UAMS. They did do suturing, casting, dissecting, and other health related experiments to help them more fully understand the human anatomy. This year we did some new activities such as blood typing, poop and pee, a mock HIV spreading, and mock drug testing. Students also participated in job shadowing in our community.

As you can see, it is a busy summer for our outreach department and recruitment for students into health careers.

Summit Medical Center MASH Program view Air-Vac Helicopter

The three programs ran successfully and the participating students had a wonderful learning experience. Some of the comments from students included “I really loved MASH and would recommend it to anyone interested in the medical field.” and “It was an honor to be accepted in the MASH Program. It really made my outlook on the medical field a lot better. I now understand the important roles every person in the medical field has. It was definitely an opportunity I’ll never forget. Thank you!”