Students explore health sciences at PharmCamp

Eighth-grade Crane and Centennial middle school students were recently selected to attend a weeklong program where they not only learned about the field of pharmacy, but also explored and researched various medical topics.

Through the Yuma PharmCamp 2011, the students spent five days learning about a wide array of medical professions and gained a better understanding of the role pharmacists play in clinics, community pharmacies, hospitals and other locations.

Although the program was implemented at the University of Arizona's campus in Tucson back in 1997, it was brought to Yuma three years ago by the Yuma Friends of Arizona Health Sciences and Walgreens.

PharmCamp director Theodore Tong, UA School of Pharmacy associate dean, said that the ultimate goal is to raise awareness about the various options that are out there for the students in the future.

He said the 25 eighth-grade students, who are also part of the Gowan Achievement Program (GAP), were chosen to attend the camp from more than 50 who applied. The students were also interviewed by members of the Yuma Friends of Arizona Health Sciences group, and each had to write an essay to attend.

During the program, students attended class from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., researching, compounding, creating, learning, experimenting, observing, calculating, testing and measuring, Tong said, doing things that professionals do in the health sciences fields on a day-to-day basis.

They also learned that being a pharmacist is more than just filling prescriptions, he explained, noting that students also took field trips to the Yuma Regional Medical Center pharmacy, Santa Teresa pharmacy, Regional Center for Border Health, Kachina Pharmacy and Walgreens pharmacy.

By visiting different types of pharmacies and medical locations, Tong said, the students observed various career opportunities in the field while asking professionals questions about their jobs.

Another facet of the program, he said, was having the students conduct and present research projects on topics they selected, ranging from sleep, asthma, and jaundice to genetic mutations, anorexia and dehydration.

Caroline Jessen, a member of the Yuma Friends of Arizona Health Sciences, explained that the children benefit from the program and will remember the places they've been to and the things they've seen for a long time to come.

Ariane Guthrie, 17, a senior at Yuma High School, has been a counselor at the PharmCamp program since it was implemented in Yuma three years ago. She said she became involved because she thought it would be a great way to learn more about the field, as she wants to become a pharmacist some day.

“I don't think they realized what pharmacists do, and so it just raised awareness for them,” she said about the students who attended the camp. She said that awareness is crucial because the need for pharmacists will continue to increase.

Rebecca Gill, a 13-year-old from Centennial, said that she signed up for the camp after hearing a presentation in her classroom. She said she enjoyed learning about compounding and the history behind pharmacy.

Although she is unsure about what she wants to do as a career, she said, she is glad that she attended the program because it dispelled some of the misconceptions she had about the field.

Gill's classmate Nigel Jones, 13, said that his favorite part of the program was visiting YRMC, where he was able to fill syringes full of Tylenol to be administered by nurses to infants.

“I felt like I was actually helping little children that can't fend for themselves,” he said, noting that he wants to become a cardiologist after learning more about that particular career at the camp.

Eberardo Ramirez, a 12-year-old from Centennial, said he liked visiting all of the pharmacy locations and added that he enjoyed seeing what pharmacists do on a daily basis.

“I think this camp is the first step in helping me figure out what I want to do, because I actually want to do something in the medical field.”