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Junior Explorers Camp: Inspiring Future Healthcare Professionals


2026 Junior Explorers

Memorial Hospital hosted its 3-day Junior Explorers Camp this week, welcoming nine students entering 6th through 8th grade for an exciting, hands-on exploration of careers in healthcare.


Throughout the camp, participants received an up-close and personal look at the many opportunities within the medical field, hearing from 13 different healthcare professions and engaging in interactive demonstrations across multiple departments.


Students gained valuable life-saving skills, including First Aid, CPR, AED use, and choking rescue training, giving them confidence and knowledge they can carry with them into the future.


The camp experience included engaging sessions with a wide range of hospital departments, such as:


  • Laboratory Services: Behind-the-scenes tours of the lab and outpatient lab areas

  • Nursing: Exploration of nursing careers, including a Hoyer lift demonstration where students were transferred from bed to chair, as well as an Autopulse simulation on a manikin

  • Cardiac Pulmonary Rehab Center: Learning about heart and lung rehabilitation through a fun escape room challenge and department tour

  • Pharmacy: Filling cany prescriptions, mixing IV medications safely, and touring the department

  • Cardiopulmonary: Listening to lung sounds, experiencing breathing with asthma, receiving a tour of the Sleep Lab and learning how tobacco and vaping products are harmful for your lungs and body

  • Diagnostic Imaging: Hands-on activities including building X-ray images, positioning skeletons, and operating X-ray equipment

  • Dentistry: Creating fillings in model teeth while learning about oral health careers

  • Occupational Therapy: Practicing adaptive tools that help patients with daily tasks

  • Specialty Clinic: Participating in a patient scenario and visiting the audiologist

  • Dietary Services: Touring the kitchen, learning food safety, and enjoying a yogurt buffet

  • Speech Pathology: Exploring how we speak, control volume, and perform swallowing exercises

  • Surgical Department: Learning how personal protective equipment keeps patient safe during surgical procedures and how to put it on and take it off correctly

  • AirEvac: Although weather prevented a helicopter landing, students engaged in an in-depth discussion about emergency air transport and asked insightful questions




Medical Explorers assisted throughout the camp, helping guide students and enhance the learning experience.


From start to finish, the students showed curiosity, asked thoughtful questions, and eagerly participated in every activity. They tracked which careers interested them most, and by the end of the week, each student discovered multiple healthcare paths that sparked their interest.


“This camp is all about sparking curiosity and showing students the many ways they can make a difference in healthcare,” said a camp organizer, Mariah Bargman “It’s inspiring to see them connect with different professions and begin imagining their futures.”


More Youth Opportunities This Summer

Memorial Hospital is excited to continue engaging young learners with two upcoming educational opportunities:

  • Child and Babysitting Safety Class — June 25

  • Child and Babysitting Safety Class — July 23


These classes are designed to equip youth with essential safety skills and confidence while caring for others. Registration is now open at: www.mhchester.com

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