February 11, 2008

East Arkansas Community College-Forrest City
Press Release

East Arkansas Community College Department of Community Education will host a two-week MASH (Medical Applications of Science for Health) camp this summer, enabling students to explore careers in the medical field. The camp will be held June 16 - 27 on the campus of EACC and is open to students entering 11th and 12th grades from all area schools.

MASH camps are designed to expose rising high school juniors and seniors to healthcare-related vocations. Studies indicate that medical students from rural communities are most likely to return to a rural setting to establish their practice.

The two-week program consists of lectures, labs, clinical interactive sessions and field trips to UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Educational methods include lecture, demonstration, and hands-on application of principles learned. During the clinical interactive sessions, M*A*S*H students may be assigned to shadow several different health care professionals. This allows students to experience first-hand the link between basic sciences and various aspects of health care.

"The MASH program was established in 1988 to address the declining number of medical professionals in rural Arkansas," said Stanley Reed of Marianna, president of Arkansas Farm Bureau. "This summer around 400 high school students will attend these camps, and hopefully several of them will decide to pursue medical careers. Because of MASH we are seeing nurses, pharmacists and family doctors returning to their rural roots."

County Farm Bureau organizations and the Arkansas Medical Mentor Partnership sponsor students so they may attend the camps at no cost. The partnership includes the University of Arkansas For Medical Science's Area Health Education Center and Rural Hospital Program, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Baptist Health, and The Arkansas Health Department's Office of Oral Health.