It’s not your typical hiking, swimming, campfires and crafts kind of camp. Sixty middle school campers will get to check out health careers ranging from dental, surgical and radiologic tech to pharmacy, veterinary and medical device design at the July 18-19 Scrubs Camp at Lake Superior College.

Campers will get to interact directly with working health professionals and learn through field trips, tours and lab work, what it would be like to work in a particular health career field.

“We want kids to have a hands-on experience exploring different health professions,” said Deb Amys, LSC director of nursing and Scrubs Camp coordinator. “It’s key to help high schoolers consider and prepare for health careers before they graduate.”

Day One on July 18 will feature lab experiences in respiratory therapy, pharmacy, veterinary with North Shore Veterinary Hospital, public health with St. Louis County, radiology with Essentia, dental, medical devices with Medtronic and surgical technologist with LSC faculty.

Day Two on July 19 will feature a morning tour of St. Luke’s Hospital and an afternoon accident simulation with emergency recovery at Lake Superior College. Campers will see professionals work a full-blown auto crash rescue, complete with “bloody” victims.

Since 2008, the ultimate goal of the statewide Scrubs Camp program through Healthforce Minnesota has been to get middle school students (completed grades 6-8) excited and interested in pursuing a career in the health sciences, and to go back home motivated and focused about what they can do in middle and high school to prepare for that potential career.

Scrubs Camp is a collaborative project between HealthForce Minnesota, Lake Superior College, Essentia Health Human Resources Recruitment and Essentia Health St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary, UMD College of Pharmacy and Medicine and St. Luke’s.