M.A.S.H. Camp: 20 years of inspiring careers in health care
Krystal Young was working in the communications field when she realized it was time for a career change. To chart a course for her future, she first turned to her past.
Back in high school, Young had attended the MultiCare Academy for Students in Healthcare (M.A.S.H.) Camp. It was an experience that helped ignite Young’s passion for health care — and years later as she changed careers, it served as her North Star.
Young went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and then joined the team at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital as a registered nurse (RN). For several years, Young has volunteered for M.A.S.H. Camp and served as a mentor, lighting the way for the next generation of health care professionals.
“Volunteering reenergizes me,” Young says. “Every year there’s at least one camp participant who says, ‘I know what I want to do now,’ and I get chills just thinking about it.”
20 years and going strong
Celebrating its 20th year, M.A.S.H. Camp (formerly Nurse Camp) is a weeklong, hands-on summer enrichment experience for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. This year, 82 students participated from across the Puget Sound.
When Young attended the camp, it focused on exposing participants to careers in nursing. However, since its inception in 2004, M.A.S.H. Camp has evolved to embrace a variety of health care professions, both clinical and nonclinical. Students learn about specialties ranging from medical genetics to speech pathology to respiratory therapy to hospital finance and more.
“M.A.S.H. Camp is an incredible opportunity for students and an investment in the future of health care,” says Sheri Mitchell, RN, manager of community outreach programs for the MultiCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness. “We need more health care professionals in our communities, and this experience gives youth a glimpse into the many possibilities, hopefully helping them discover a career pathway that resonates.”
One important aspect of the camp that has not changed over the years is cost — the camp is free to participants, with the goal of attracting students from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented communities.
“Patients are diverse, and to adequately meet their needs, our workforce must also reflect that diversity,” Mitchell says. “That’s why we want to afford this opportunity to as many students as possible. Cost should not prevent someone from discovering what health care career they’re passionate about.”
Slots at the camp are competitive, but Mitchell says the selection team looks beyond grades.
“We want participants who are well-rounded and are involved in their community in some way — maybe they volunteer or have a job or play sports,” she says. “And while many students who apply have backgrounds in technology and science, we also welcome those who don’t.”
What it’s like to be a M.A.S.H. camper
M.A.S.H. Camp students see and do a lot over the course of a week. They participate in hands-on rotations, where they learn skills like splinting and wound cleaning. They also listen to health care professionals discuss their various roles, tour college campuses and more. The goal of these activities is to give students a holistic view of how team-based care is accomplished in a hospital setting.
High school sophomore Kamryn Banks learned new skills starting day one.
“That very first day I placed an IV and did sutures, which was something I had really been looking forward to,” she says. “I even learned a more efficient way to do CPR on babies.”
For many M.A.S.H. campers, including Banks, the highlight of the week is the opportunity to participate in job shadows.
Banks shadowed a surgeon and an RN, experiences that opened her eyes to roles in health care she hadn’t considered before.
“I went into M.A.S.H. Camp thinking I wanted to be an anesthesiologist, but I really loved the RN role,” she says. “There’s so much that they do and I like how intimately they work with patients. Now I’m thinking about being a nurse anesthetist.”
M.A.S.H. Camp participant Matthea Baldago-Gaines
For some campers, the weeklong experience reinforces their career goals. Matthea Baldago-Gaines, a high school junior, was inspired to work in health care from an early age by her mother, a certified nursing assistant.
“I watched her take care of senior citizens in nursing homes when I was growing up and knew I wanted to be like her and go into nursing,” Baldago-Gaines says. “This camp showed me the many places nurses can work and made me feel more confident in my decision to major in nursing.”
This year, the culminating activity of M.A.S.H. Camp was an escape room, where campers were divided into teams and had to solve a series of puzzles in a set amount of time.
“It simulated an ER and everyone had to work together to figure what was wrong with a patient,” Banks says. “It was cool because in real life people in health care have to do this sort of thing every day. It was also a fun way to recap everything we’d learned throughout the week.”
The view from a volunteer
M.A.S.H. Camp volunteer and mentor Krystal Young
Students aren’t the only ones who engage in discovery at M.A.S.H. Camp. Young — former camper and now M.A.S.H. Camp mentor — shares that she often learns something new, whether she’s running an activity station or chaperoning a tour. Sometimes it’s the students themselves that enlighten her perspective.
“When we visited one of the colleges, a camper asked an instructor, ‘How are you teaching self-care to your nursing students?’” Young says. “I was blown away by the wisdom in this question. At a time when burnout is rampant, it made me optimistic about the future of nursing to know that these students are already prioritizing self-care.”
It takes a village
The secret to M.A.S.H. Camp’s success year after year is collaboration. A variety of community partners provide donations and sponsorships, which help make the camp accessible to all students. MultiCare also partners with local schools to help spread the world about this unique opportunity.
Historically, M.A.S.H. Camp has only accepted applicants from Pierce, south King, Thurston and Kitsap counties. However, MultiCare is in the process of launching M.A.S.H. Camp for high school students in the Inland Northwest region.
