St. Philip's College Grooms Future Health Care Professionals at Camp 98.6

Camp 98.6 guaranteed high school students an exciting time with prominent local medical pros

(Photo by Mark Barnes): Ten lucky Harlandale High School students got to work as health professionals with some of the best equipment and personnel on the San Antonio medical scene this week, thanks to St. Philip’s College. Preparation for the scenario ranged from two days of classes at St. Philip’s College where the students received training about head trauma injuries to working with the SPC instructors and a Life Flight helicopter team on the helipad at University Hospital. Codenamed Camp 98.6, the health career prep program ran June 9-13 and took place at SPC, University Hospital and the University of Texas Health Science Center facilities.
 
Ten lucky Harlandale High School students got to work as health professionals with some of the best equipment and personnel on the San Antonio medical scene this week, thanks to St. Philip’s College.
 
Codenamed Camp 98.6, the health career prep program ran June 9-13 and took place at SPC, University Hospital and the University of Texas Health Science Center facilities.
 
“They saw everything,” said Joyce E. Turner-Ferrier, a registered nurse who is the Coordinator of the Human Patient Simulation Center and Nursing Laboratories at SPC. “I hope we enroll some of the students in our college programs and encourage women and minorities to enter the health professions. That’s why we did this,” Turner Ferrier said.
 
As part of the program, the students went on the rooftop tarmac of a helipad to learn how to take a patient in and go back inside the hospital through an entrance door, to take the patient from the pad on a stretcher and down to an emergency room. The local press showed up to cover the unique program. The college may participate in a larger-scale mass casualty exercise in the city later this year, Turner-Ferrier said.
 
The week introduced high school juniors and seniors to the health professions through mentoring, hands-on experience and basic knowledge of various medical disciplines. The program did its job of interesting students in health careers, one participant said.
 
“There are plenty of opportunities to learn about health professionals and a lot for students to do at St. Philip’s College,” 98.6 student Rosemary Ruiz said during her visit to the Human Patient Simulation Center at SPC. “The people at the college provided me with equal amounts of college and technical information. I’m much more interested in the college’s nursing programs than I was before I visited,” Ruiz said.
 
Ruiz and fellow students were groomed by experts at the St. Philip’s College Allied Health and Nursing Departments to work with the college’s UT and University Hospital counterparts in a scenario involving a head injury patient arriving at University Hospital’s heliport, with involvement from the various University departments to include emergency room, nursing, medical laboratory, radiography, respiratory care, surgery, and rehabilitation services.
 
Preparation for the scenario included two days of classes at St. Philip’s College where the students received training about head trauma injuries. This involved exposure to such disciplines the college has taught for many years to include nursing, medical laboratory, radiography, respiratory care, surgery, and rehabilitation (OTA/PTA). The SPC Respiratory Care and Physical Therapist Assistant programs are rated Exemplary by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
 
Further preparation included sessions divided between University Hospital and the UT Health Science Center to experience the emergency scenario. The students were debriefed and learned to update their resumes as aspiring health professionals on the final day of camp that took place at SPC.