TAMPA, Fla. — This week, high school students from across Tampa Bay are getting a behind-the-scenes peek into life as a doctor, nurse, or team member at St. Joseph’s Hospital. It’s all part of the hospital’s second annual Career Camp.
From an ultrasound to cutting the umbilical chord to swaddling, these students received a crash course on childbirth day one. It was one of 25 different experiences they’ll receive during the three-day camp.
“I know when I was a kid, I would have loved to have something like this to know this is really what I want to do,” said camp director Melissa Menke. “So our goal is to expose them to as many careers within a hospital as we can over three days. We can’t get them all, but as many as we can.”
“Nursing is such a broad field. It’s just cool to see the different kinds of opportunities you can have,” said 10th-grader Ella Claire Milligan.
“I’m hoping to learn more of what goes on behind the curtains rather than as a patient,” said 10th-grader Olivia Candales.
With a nationwide shortage of healthcare workers in full effect, the hospital said it’s time to look to the future.
“As everyone knows, COVID was a rough time for everyone. Healthcare took a hit for sure, with team members and workers in all sorts of fields. Everybody had a hard time with staffing, and so by doing a camp like this, we are hoping to encourage the next generation to become healthcare workers,” said Menke.
The students said it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of these types of careers before deciding to pursue them officially.
“I don’t want to go straight into nursing school and then like pay for it and then realize that I don’t really want to be into it,” said ninth-grader Jessie Costantino.
While the medical professionals guiding the camp say it’s nice to see teenagers so engaged.
“You can see their eyes light up. You can see their wheels turning,” said Menke. “They want to know all the things. They want to know is it really like what’s on TV, are there all sorts of codes all the time, are there physicians running around, what does that feel like, is it really like Grey’s Anatomy.”
“I feel very lucky because not everyone has this opportunity and seeing everything actually come to life,” said ninth-grader Jennifer Garcia-Lopez.
Some of these students and professionals will even exchange numbers. The camp may only last three days, but the mentorship could last years.
Menke hopes to work alongside some of these students one day. “That would be absolutely amazing, and I would love it,” she said.
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