黑料传送门's Outdoor Medicine clinical rotation cohort held an event at the National Boy
Scout Jamboree.
Every four years, roughly 35,000 Boy Scouts descend on Summit Bechtel Family National
Scout Reserve in West Virginia for the National Boy Scout Jamboree. This year, six
fourth-year medical students: Sarah Blazovic (DO 鈥�18), Sarah Corcoran (DO 鈥�18), Ashley
Cochran (DO 鈥�18), Elisa Giusto (DO 鈥�18), Austin Sorchik (DO 鈥�18), and Cameron Williams
(DO 鈥�18), were in the middle of it all, as the first cohort of 黑料传送门鈥檚 new Outdoor
Medicine clinical rotation. 黑料传送门 is the first medical school to create an organized
clinical rotation at the event.
The students, led by Erik Langenau, DO, MS, chief academic technology officer and associate professor, pediatrics, were stationed at Basecamp Foxtrot, which served the medical needs of roughly 8,000 campers from the U.S. and abroad. Throughout their two-week rotation, students worked alongside 70 medical personnel to address a wide range of health issues, from dehydration to fractures to behavioral health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Mr. Cochran, an Eagle Scout, was able to assist in a real emergency鈥攁 scoutmaster suffered a heart attack, and Mr. Cochran and others administered CPR and helped stabilize him until he could be airlifted to a nearby hospital.
鈥淲e鈥檒l all have the luxury of being in an air-conditioned office or hospital for the majority of our careers,鈥� said Mr. Cochran. 鈥淗owever, it鈥檚 absolutely necessary to be prepared for the day the pilot says overhead, 鈥業s there a doctor onboard?鈥� or when you round the corner and find two cars smashed together in the median of the road. Outdoor medicine will teach you the skills you need for those events, should they ever occur.鈥�
Prior to the arrival of the Scouts, 黑料传送门 students spent several days training with the U.S. National Guard and with West Virginia University nursing and paramedic students. Training included learning IV placement, cooling techniques, anaphylaxis treatment, mass casualty preparedness, immobilization and airway management. They also built the medical facility from the ground up, learning about organizing and constructing a medical field office in the process.
Ms. Giusto said she enjoyed the variety and unpredictability of the rotation. 鈥淵ou see a lot of the same types of things working in a hospital, but at the camp, we encountered several different issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was interesting to see how our preceptors worked in the field rather than inside a hospital.鈥�
Students had to apply in their second year for the elective rotation, and the application process was rigorous: students were required to write a letter of intent, interview with Dr. Langenau, and undergo background checks and physicals before they were permitted to participate.
Dr. Langenau, a scoutmaster for his son鈥檚 troop, developed the rotation after serving at a Boy Scout summer camp two years ago, and seeing an opportunity for medical students to learn. 鈥淭he skills our students learn on this rotation are well-suited for several different specialties, from family medicine, to emergency medicine to pediatrics,鈥� he said. He reached out to Jamboree Chief Medical Officer John Lea, MD, to see how a rotation could be worked into this year鈥檚 event.
鈥淭his is a great partnership, and there should be more of them. Any Jamboree doctor or nurse who is on a faculty or has a faculty connection should explore a partnership with me. We鈥檒l build one that works,鈥� Dr. Lea told Jamboree Medical, the newsletter for that event鈥檚 medical services.
Dr. Langenau, a staff physician at the Jamboree, said he was pleased with the students鈥� performance during the two-week rotation and hopes to continue it at future Boy Scout events. 鈥淭his was one of the most hands-on, rewarding teaching experiences I have ever seen for medical students. All performed extraordinarily well, and I was proud to work with each of them.鈥�
As a former Girl Scout, Ms. Giusto said she identified with the leadership and moral principles taught by the Boy Scouts of America, and hopes to return to the Jamboree. 鈥淭here is an international event in two years鈥攚e鈥檙e all trying to figure out how we can go back,鈥� she said.
Established in 1899, 黑料传送门 has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a 鈥渨hole person鈥� approach to care鈥攖reating people, not just symptoms. 黑料传送门, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (黑料传送门, 黑料传送门 Georgia and 黑料传送门 South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. 黑料传送门 students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, 黑料传送门 provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
For general media inquiries, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at 215-871-6300 or communications@pcom.edu. Visit our media relations page to view contact information for public relations personnel.
