UAMS Hosting Health Professions Camp for High School Students March 20-22

By Holland Doran

The camp is open to students in grades 8-12 and will be held March 20-22. It is a part of the UAMS Center for Diversity Affairs’ (CDA) outreach programs.

“The camp will give students the opportunity to see what their career options are in the health care field,” said Billy Thomas, M.D., vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion at UAMS. “Last year we had more than 160 students, and we plan to have more this year. The importance and long-term impact of early exposure programs cannot be over emphasized – setting the stage for informed career choices as students progress academically.”

Campers will hear from guest speaker Ivory A. Toldson, Ph.D., professor of counseling psychology at Howard University in Washington D.C. and currently serving as the deputy director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Mentoring in Medicine, Inc., a nonprofit that works with students in disadvantaged areas to cultivate health careers, will present an interactive stage play, “Morgan’s Big Biology Test,” that focuses on heart-healthy living and health careers. Students will have the opportunity to network with physicians and students in health professions and explore all UAMS colleges.

To preregister and see an agenda, visit cda.uams.edu. For more information call the UAMS Center for Diversity Affairs office at (501) 686-7299.

The camp is sponsored by CDA, the Edith Irby Jones Chapter of the Student National Medical Association, Say it Loud! Readers and Writers Group, and the City of Little Rock Community Programs.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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