NHP’s summer med prep program

Thirteen students from four Pensacola, Fla., high schools participated in Naval Hospital Pensacola’s inaugural Summer Medical Preparatory Program (SMP2). The new program was created to provide students interested in a career in medicine, and with the opportunity to gain experience in various areas of health care. “(T)his was our opportunity to provide these teenagers with an example of how rewarding it is to take care of patients who put their trust in us to care for them and hopefully inspire them to continue to pursue their dream of a career in medicine," said NHP Executive Officer Capt. Elizabeth Adriano. All of the students had previously participated in Escambia County school system’s Health Academy. From making dental impressions to forming casts on each other to listening to the heartbeat of a newborn, students had a variety of hands-on experience. They also observed OR surgeries; and practiced medical care on NHP’s realistic simulators that can actually talk and moan with pain. It allowed students to learn and practice spine stabilization, controlled bleeding, placing IVs, and breathing restoration. They put their skills to a test at the end of the week by participating in a realistic training exercise where they had to save the life of a simulated patient injured from a motorcycle accident. (Source: Naval Hospital Pensacola 06/25/18) NH Pensacola is the lead command for Navy branch health clinics in four states, including ones at NAS Meridian and Naval Construction Battalion Center, Miss.; and NAS/JRB New Orleans. The other states are Florida and Tennessee.