High school students from across Southwest Missouri spent a day at KCU-Joplin learning about osteopathic medicine and dentistry when the campus hosted MASH Camp on June 28 in collaboration with Southwest Missouri Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Alongside KCU faculty, students explored hands-on activities focused on a variety of topics from saliva testing and heart murmurs to dissection and osteopathic manipulative therapy.
MASH Camp not only introduces students to health care careers in an interactive setting, it also allows them to network with health care professionals in the community who can serve as mentors. “As a first-generation college student, I did not have exposure to health care professions as a career choice,” said Mary Jo Martin, MD, KCU assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences. “Growing up in a small town in West Virginia, I know firsthand how important it is to see others with similar backgrounds successfully pursuing careers of their choosing. As faculty, we participate in MASH Camp because we love sharing our knowledge and experiences with students of all ages. We cherish the opportunity to enlighten our young community members about a wider array of career choices they may not have been exposed to previously,” she said.
MASH Camp returned to KCU-Joplin this year following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
