Have you ever tried playing basketball in a wheelchair? How about determining your own blood type or stitching up steak as if it were human flesh? These are three of the many activities taken on by the 57 teens at the eighth annual Survivor Aroostook Healthcare Career Exploration Camp, held during the week of June 21 at Northern Maine Community College.

Survivor Camp is a week-long, residential program offered by The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC) to introduce students from all over Aroostook County to health careers right after they finish the eighth grade. The camp is educational, informative, and most of all, fun.

“I was really interested in physical therapy and nursing, but I wanted to learn more about other jobs like anesthesiology, so I decided to try out the camp,” said Matthew Theriault, a camper from Fort Fairfield. “My favorite part of camp so far has been the exploration stations.”

The hands-on exploration stations expose campers to a variety of careers, including orthopedics, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, pharmacy, emergency medical services, and more.

By the third day of camp, Clarissa Buck of Presque Isle had participated in at least ten different activities, including the exploration stations and a tour of the hospital.

“I liked all the workshops and when we went to TAMC for the tour,” she said. “We learned how to do CPR, and we learned about the respiratory system and how to intubate a person. I didn’t realize we were going to be so busy all of the time, but it’s a lot of fun.”

While the campers are learned a lot about healthcare careers, they also enjoyed the competitive aspect of camp. Survivor Camp is much like the television show of the same name – there are physical and mental challenges, and a tribe is declared the winner at the end of the week.

“We do a wide variety of challenges at the camp,” said Alan Dunn, challenge committee chairperson. “We have a wheelchair race, a disabilities course, boot camp, and many other challenges. We did some of the challenges outside in the rain for the first time this year, but the campers did really well with it.”

The highlight of the week for many of the campers was a disaster simulation that took place on the last night of camp. This year’s disaster featured a mock accident involving a car and an ATV. Campers quickly responded to the scene, transported the “victims” by ambulance to a simulated emergency room, and worked with healthcare professionals to begin treatment. This activity allowed campers to use a lot of the information they learned during the week and work together as a team to reach a common goal.

Survivor Camp was developed several years ago to address a growing shortage of workers in several different healthcare professions. Organizers hope that campers will consider taking healthcare-related courses in high school and college in preparation for a career in the medical field right here in Aroostook County. According to camp director Mary Berube, the camp has already had an impact.

“Healthcare careers allow kids to stay in the County, make good money, and do rewarding work,” she said. “Several of the campers from the first few years of the program have gone on to work in healthcare. One of our camp counselors at this year’s camp attended Survivor several years ago. He is now a pre-med student at the University of New England.”

The camp’s success has not gone unnoticed. Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, along with Eastern Maine Medical Center, The Acadia Hospital, Eastern Maine Community College, and other partners, are using TAMC’s Survivor Camp as a model for a healthcare career camp being offered this summer for the first time in the Bangor area. The Bangor camp will take place on the week of July 19.

For Aroostook County Survivor campers as well as other teens, there are additional opportunities to continue learning about healthcare careers in high school. TAMC’s Health Career Exploration Program offers students a chance to explore healthcare careers in even greater depth three times during the school year. TAMC also offers a job shadow program for high school students. To learn more, please call 768-4028.

To see pictures and videos from this year’s Survivor Camp, please visit TAMC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/aroostookmedicalcenter.