LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The area's future medical professionals spent time with experts in the field to learn more about what their careers in medicine could look like.
Mercy Health-St. Rita's and the Ohio State University Department of Cardiovascular Medicine hosted a Cardiovascular Scholar's Camp for twenty local high school seniors. Throughout the day, future medical students learned about various procedures and what life is like during and after medical school.
"I've learned about all their experiences, what they've done to get to the point they are in their life. I've learned about all the different careers, all the different options. We got to learn about a bunch of different equipment, we worked with a high-tech mannequin, learned about sonograms, different exams that you can do, ultrasounds," said Madelyn Hovest, senior at Ottawa-Glandorf High School
Speakers didn't sugarcoat how difficult medical school and residency will be, but they did give advice and encourage the seniors to stick with their goals through those tough times.
"I really liked the quote they used, 'The path to the med field is not a straight line.' Because they all took different routes and they had different experiences, but they all had that same motivation and love for being a physician," said Daniel Koh, a senior at Shawnee High School.
OSU and Mercy Health plan to offer the camp again next year, but it's not the only initiative they're partnering on. Starting this year, Ohio State will begin enrolling students in a community medicine M.D. track. The goal of the new program is to address the shortage of physicians in rural and mid-sized communities.
"Medical students actually will do a training at Ohio State for two years and at Lima, which will transition them to be close to the community, close to their future practice, and make them much more engaged and involved with the community," explained Dr. Mahmoud Houmsse, a cardiologist at The Ohio State University.
During their clinical training at Mercy Health-St. Rita's, those students will also learn about the importance of outreach programs and serving their community as health leaders.
