Vital Signs:
A Different Kind of Camp
In early August, 15 New Hampshire high schoolers gave up a few precious summer days to attend the first annual Dartmouth Health Careers Camp. There were no s'mores or sing-alongs, but the participants enjoyed the four-day camp all the same. It featured tours of DHMC and its research labs; talks by specialists in family medicine, epidemiology, radiology, and nursing; and a picnic where campers got a chance to mingle with Dartmouth medical students.
Donald Kollisch, M.D., an associate professor of community and family medicine, received a particularly warm response from the teens for his talk about rural health-care careers. "They were able to relate to that and see the promise in that," says second-year DMS student Stewart Mackie, who organized the camp under the auspices of the New Hampshire Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Increasing awareness about careers in health is one of AHEC's primary goals. Over the next year, AHEC officials will also help the campers work on their college applications. J.D.
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