Guiding Future Healthcare Heroes

Photography by James Moore

How MASH Camps Spark Careers and Keep Talent Local

Ozarks Healthcare’s MASH Camp summer program hosted nearly 140 students from throughout the hospital’s seven-county service area in July, exposing the youngsters to various health careers.

More than 100 high schoolers in grades 9 to 12 applied for the two-day camp with enrollment capped at 87, while 50 middle schoolers in grades 7 and 8 attended a one-day camp.

Sammi Radosevich, Ozarks Healthcare’s career pathways coordinator, said interest exceeded last year’s camps as students continue to clamor for a closer look at various health care career fields.

“MASH Camp gives students insights into a wide range of careers, not just physicians and nursing,” she said. “We cover every position and career within the hospital, from various therapies, surgical tech and anesthesia to behavioral health care, radiology and more.”

Campers take in various presentations and panel discussions during MASH, as well as tour the hospital’s facilities.

MASH Camp ties in with Ozarks Healthcare’s broader career initiative called Inside Track whereby Radosevich works closely with area high schools to help students identify and focus their interest on a healthcare career and its requirements through job shadowing and advising.

“MASH Camp is a big part of the program in that it helps us make connections which I can follow up on, do in-school presentations and arrange for job shadowing and internships,” she said. “Everything works together to help the student, from MASH camp and job shadowing and then training for and getting jobs in health care.”

Inside Track has also proven to be an effective means for retaining homegrown medical talent, building their careers locally after graduation.

“I think the higher-level interest in health care has always been there, it’s just been the follow through that was lacking,” she said. “Our programs take a student who has an idea of wanting to do something in the field and show them the actual path to get there. Seeing it firsthand really helps them focus on that process.

“In fact, I know of at least one student who attended MASH Camp as a senior in high school and is now working for us here at the hospital and we have several more who attended as middle schoolers and have come back to attend the high school MASH camps. We’re creating that pathway for students to not only see their future and train for it, but to keep that talent working here locally.”