Byline: Cristina Daglas The Capital Times
How many patients do you see a day? What is the starting wage? Are there cultural barriers? Can you specialize in yoga?
In the midst of the annual Health Careers Camp this week, 23 high school students took part in a physical therapy session at the University of Wisconsin, where they bounced questions off Assistant Professor William Boissonnault and experimented with therapy equipment.
Hooked up to a machine designed to make muscles contract, Middleton High School senior Lindsay Urben giggled as her arm involuntarily moved and a fellow student increased the intensity of the machine.
'Does it hurt?' one student asked.
'Not really,' Urben responded.
At easily the loudest station in the room, this group of five students was taking turns strapping on the electrode pads to feel the tingling sensation. (Yes, there was supervision.)
'It felt like my arm was falling asleep ... and then it would move,' Urben said.
Students at the camp come from 23 counties and financial aid is available, camp director Judy Quirt said. 'Our goal is to not have any barriers.'
The camp is in its fourth year in the Madison area.
But this camp isn't all fun and games. The camp is designed to provide information on careers in the health field in an effort to help decrease gaps where there aren't enough workers.
'Some of the sessions are more fun than others,' said Quirt, who works with Southwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center, the nonprofit organization that hosts the camp.
The camp gives participants information to make a career decision, she said.
Lizze Lawson, who attends both Middleton High and Middleton Alternative Senior High, said she went into the camp thinking she possibly wanted to be an obstetrician/gynecologist but is now considering other options. She is most interested in attending UW-Milwaukee after she graduates in a year to study nursing, she said.
'It's been great' meeting other people with such similar interests, she said.
She said she also enjoyed the personal stories doctors were sharing about why they went into the field and how much they now love what they do.
Urben said conversing with medical students was a high point of the camp.
She hopes to attend either the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities or the University of Michigan and pursue a career in pharmacy.
But the six-day camp was packed with information about opportunities.
'I'm learning so much that I didn't know before,' Urben said.
E-mail: cdaglas@madison.com
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DAVID SANDELL/THE CAPITAL TIMES
Instructor Jake Bliefernicht explains foot therapy to a group of students at Health Careers Camp.
