CRH welcome MASH Students

July 22, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Rebecca Winter, Marketing Services
Crittenden Regional Hospital
870.735.1500

CRH and the UAMS Delta Area Health Center staff would like to welcome this year's MASH students to the hospital's campus.
Every summer since 1988, hundreds of high school students in Arkansas have donned surgical scrubs or lab coats at Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and community hospitals in order to learn more about health careers. With a special emphasis on rural youth, the Medical Application of Science for Health program, or M*A*S*H, has exposed high school students to the many careers available in the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and allied health.

Those who are participating this year are: Nathan Hutton, son of Melissa Hutton, RN; Chelsea Forrest, daughter of Jeannette & Sylvester Forrest; Meghan Davis, daughter of Lenette Davis & Greg Charlton; Michelle Waddel, daughter of Kim Waddel; Natalie Nichols, daughter of Vickie & Steve Nichols; Callie Holthouse, daughter of Debbie & Ron Holthouse; Hanna Underwood, daughter of Tanya & Donny Underwood; Andrew Benson, son of Sheryl & Randy Benson; Faith Webb, daughter of Dr. Dan & Becky Webb; Dylan McVay, son of Staci & Wade McVay.

The M*A*S*H Program was created by faculty at AHEC Pine Bluff in 1988 with 19 participants. It was designed to encourage young people to explore the application of scientific concepts to the health care field. During this two-week program, students become certified in Basic First Aid, Basic Life Support (CPR) Part B, and learn the importance of healthy lifestyle habits. The connection of the basic sciences to medical diagnosis and treatment is reinforced through lectures, labs, and clinical interaction. Exposure to different areas of medicine and the health related professions is an integral part of the M*A*S*H experience. Students learn to identify some of the various health care disciplines, what they do, how they relate to one another, and how the fundamentals of anatomy, biology, pharmacology and physiology are employed in each discipline.

The two-week program consists of lectures, labs, and clinical interactive sessions. Educational methods include lecture, demonstration, and hands-on application of principles learned. Instructional materials include slide presentations, video programs, computer-assisted instructional programs, mannequins, and various laboratory, diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. 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. Student evaluations in past years have rated this part of the M*A*S*H program as the highlight of the two week program.