Boys & Girls Club Students Explore Medical Careers at Iredell Memorial Hospital

Eight students from Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont enjoyed a Med-Stem Camp hosted by Iredell Health System last month, giving them the inside scoop on the array of healthcare careers available to them.

“There’s many more occupations associated with a hospital than what the average person would think there are,” said Micah Spearman, Boys & Girls Club student. “I was surprised with how little I actually knew about hospitals until this camp.”

The camp lasted for six days. Students learned about nearly every area of the hospital including cardiopulmonary rehab, the emergency department, maintenance, biomedical engineering, radiation therapy and skilled nursing. They heard from multiple staff members and enjoyed interesting activities and games. This gave the students a hands-on learning experience.

“My favorite part was making our own hand sanitizer,” said Spearman. “I like creating things with my hands.”

Randi Raynor, pharmacy director, and Laura Rollings, pharmacy clinical coordinator, engaged students in a drug compounding activity with hand sanitizer. They also facilitated a pharmacy trivia game for the students. A doctoral student at High Point University was interning in the pharmacy during the students’ visit. She inspired them with her story of working 10 years as a pharmacy tech in retail after high school before she went to college and was now a few months from graduating college.

Brady Johnson, Boys & Girls Club director of development, was impressed with what the kidney dialysis unit offered the students.

“The nurse that spoke to the kids was intelligent, passionate and inspiring. Not only did she explain the very complex procedures and practices required to treat her patients, but she also took time to share her personal story about her career pathway, explaining that health care can open doors for them that they aren’t even aware of. The most powerful part of her presentation came when she explained that the majority of her patients are in kidney failure due to lifestyle choices and poor decisions they have made. She spoke about the dangers of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, smoking and vaping. I wish every middle school and high school child in our community could have heard her,” said Johnson.

Other activities included an ambulance tour, checking out the helicopter pad, suiting up for an operating room tour, and taking a peek of the morgue. Each activity was met with excitement and wonder from the students.