Participants came from 16 counties throughout N.C. to attend the week-long residential program held on the UNC campus.
The program, which was hosted by UNC’s Department of Emergency Medicine and Office of Rural Initiatives, introduces rising high school seniors to different careers in medicine and pathways to get there, via professional panels, hands-on skills sessions, simulations, and lectures.
Examples of topics covered included:
- Healthcare in rural North Carolina
- Careers in medicine and education pathways to achieve them
- Basic medical history and physical exam skills
- Introduction to cardiovascular health
The educational sessions were taught by faculty and residents from the Department of Emergency Medicine, members of the Office of Rural Initiatives, and numerous other medical experts from different physician specialties and healthcare professions at UNC.
This year’s program was led by Dr. Maglin Halsey-Nichols, Co-Director of the Health Equity and Global Emergency Care Fellowship Program and Assistant Residency Program Director with the Department of Emergency Medicine; and Felicia Crawford, M.A., Program Coordinator for the Office from the UNC Office of Rural Initiatives.
This was the 7th year for the program, which was originally developed by Drs. Kyle Melvin and Catherine Coe out of the Department of Family Medicine.
Interest was particularly high this year, with more than 100 students applying to participate in the program. 