View Larger Image
High school students practice suture techniques during a MASH camp at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville.
Image by David Wise
UAMS Regional Campuses Accepting Applications For Health Care-Focused Summer Programs for Youth
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is accepting applications for summer camp programs that introduce high school students to career opportunities in the health care field.
The Medical Applications of Science for Health (MASH) program is a summer day camp for students entering grades 11 and 12. Participants gain exposure to health careers through hands-on activities, tours of health care facilities and interaction with medical professionals.
Most of the camps run for two weeks, but a few sites plan to host “Mini MASH” camps that condense their activities into a single week.
MASH camps will be held at UAMS’ eight Regional Campuses or at local hospitals or colleges. The program will be offered this summer in Blytheville, Conway, Crossett, DeWitt, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Forrest City, Fort Smith, Harrison, Helena-West Helena, Lake Village, Malvern, Monticello, Paragould, Pine Bluff, Rogers, Texarkana, West Memphis and Warren.
For students entering grades eight through 10, UAMS will offer the Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service (CHAMPS) program, which features three- to five-day camps with many of the learning opportunities provided by MASH. The CHAMPS program will be available in Crossett and Fayetteville.
These programs are made possible by a partnership between UAMS Regional Campuses and the Arkansas Farm Bureau. The MASH program concept was piloted in 1988 by the UAMS South Central Regional Campus in Pine Bluff. Farm Bureau recognized the value of these MASH camps in helping rural communities develop their own health care providers, and when initial grant funding ended, Farm Bureau stepped up to ensure continuation of the programs.
These programs are also supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an annual award totaling $2,308,000.00 with 50 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Camp dates and application deadlines vary based on location. For more information and to apply for these summer programs, go to https://regionalcampuses.uams.edu/health-careers/high-school-students/mash/mash-camp-locations/.
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 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 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.###