Eighteen middle school students took part in a Rural Healthcare Explorers Program (RHEP) this summer, which exposed them to different health careers as part of a summer camp experience.

The RHEP experience was offered to middle school students who attended the Rockford-based Patriot’s Gateway Summer Camp this year. It consisted of six sessions held on Wednesday mornings from July 5 to August 9.

For two of the six sessions, the campers were bused to KSB Hospital in Dixon, to see a rural hospital in person. Northwest AHEC, which is located at KSB, organized the tours and set up presentations by health professionals. Campers had the opportunity to meet up to four professionals at each visit.

The NCRHP arranged for a health profession to be presented during each of the other four sessions. The middle schoolers were introduced to at least 11 different health professions: medicine, nursing, podiatry, OB/GYN nursing, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, medical imaging, laboratory, physical therapy, dietary, and EMT/paramedics. The campers were also introduced to the Illinois AHEC Network, and learned about how its programs can help them prepare for health care careers.

The program was adapted from a high school RHEP to material appropriate for middle schooler. Campers were given readings and worksheets at their grade level to read and complete during the weekly in-person sessions. Some of the readings and discussions included a focus on rural health care.

RHEP activities took places among a variety of other experiences offered by the summer camp, such as gardening, cooking, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, sports, games, computer lab, arts and crafts, and field trips.

The 18 middle school campers were evenly split between nine females and nine males. They also came from diverse ethnoracial backgrounds. Seven of the campers were African American, three were Hispanic, one was Asian, three were white, and four were multiracial. Five of the campers will be starting sixth grade in the fall, 11 are entering seventh grade, and two will be eighth graders.