BHSU Hosts Second HealthCORE STEM Summer Camp

From dissecting sheep eyeballs to receiving a chiropractic stretch—students were fully engaged in the second year of Baptist HealthCORE STEM Summer Camp.

Between Monday, June 5, and Friday, June 16, 2023, 78 high school participants, representing 32 different schools from the tristate area, engaged from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm daily with various health sciences programs.  The free, two-week camp is part of the BaptistU HealthCORE community outreach initiative which is a collaboration with Baptist Health Sciences University (BHSU) and Baptist Memorial Health Care (BMHC). This year’s summer camp was generously financially supported by Truist Bank, as well as BMHC Community Relations and BHSU.

Check out our Facebook page to view the photo albums from the camp.

The STEM summer camp provides interactive learning experiences for high school students interested in careers in health care and STEM. This included mentorship from existing BHSU students, educational activities provided by our faculty and community partners, and an immersive activity that showcases Baptist's efforts to address health disparities. The following departments and areas participated in this year’s camp:

• BHSU (Admissions, Alumni Relations, Biomedical Sciences, Campus Ministry, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Health Administration and Public Health, Honors Program, Interprofessional Education, Marketing, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Nursing, Respiratory Care, Security, Student Affairs)
• BMHC (Community Relations, Nutrition, Baptist Memphis-Stroke Team)

• Community Partners (Acadian Ambulance, Fitnexx, Priority Ambulance, Red Chiro, Truist Bank)

               

Camp activities included:

• Future leaders: Team building through Improv with Dr. Briana Jegier
• Global Pandemic Escape Room with Dr. Jan Hill and Professor Leah Greene
• Your Career, Your Calling and University tour with Ms. Jamecia Richardson and Ms. Autumn James
• EMT/EMS Careers with JD Horn and Team from Priority Ambulance
• EMT/EMS Careers with Demario Hunter and Team from Acadian Ambulance
• Blood Typing Forensic Investigation with Dr. Koushik Roy and Dr. Christina Davis
• Blood Typing and DNA finger printing Forensic Investigation with BHSU faculty and staff, Dr. Lilian Nyindodo, Dr. Christina Davis, Mr. Joe Solomon, Ms. Megan Bursi, Ms. Tara Barker, and the MPLOY interns.
• Fitness with Tony Knox from Fitnexx
• Diagnostic Medical Sonography “Seeing with Sound” with Ms. Abby Kurtz and Ms. Katie Cody
• Sonography: The Case of the Missing Thyroid with Dr. Lilian Nyindodo and Dr. Briana Jegier
• Medicine in Historical Context and Discover BHSU with Dr. Paul Criss
• Nursing First Aid Basics and IPE with Dr. Angel Boiling and Dr. Cheryl Scott
• Medical Laboratory Diagnosis with Ms. Dana Wiley
• Mental & Spiritual Health with Dr. Paul Criss, Chaplain Karen Smith, Counselor Caryn Schmitz, Dr. Nemetria Tate
• Respiratory Care practice ‘breathing’ with Ms. Kira Anderson and Ms. Antoinette Beckley
• Microbiology with Ms. Michelle Alexander and Dr. Christina Davis
• Stroke Education with Ms. Julie Horn
• Chiropractic Body Manipulations with Dr. Fred Peete and Dr. Hazel Aberdeen
• Physics fun with Dr. Yadav Pandit
• Radioactive Decay with Dr. Donna Mars and Ms. Nikki Robinson
• Eyeball Dissection with Dr. Christina Davis and Dr. John Parr
• Nutrition Wellness with Ms. Queen Taliafero
• Financial Wellness with Ms. Tyronza LeSueur-Ellis
• Mobile Clinic and Homeless Outreach with Ms. Cynthia Bradford, Ms. Ann Marie Wallace and Mr. Nicholas Weaver

Each week of camp closed with a ceremony where students received a completion certificate.  

Dr. Nyindodo and Dr. Jegier would like to thank all the facilitators, the volunteers, the interns and the participants who made this camp a success. A special shout out to all who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this possible: Ms. Ann Marie Wallace, Ms. Cynthia Bradford, Ms. Tara Barker, Mr. Nicholas Weaver, Ms. Abby Bran, Dr. Paul Criss, Ms. Natassah Chipman, Dr. Brent Owens, Ms. Brittney Golden, Ms. Aleatra Mckinley, Ms. Brionna Miller, Mr. Bobby Truitt, all the security officers, and all our volunteers. It took a village to make this possible.