I recently completed my sophomore year of high school at Washtenaw International High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan. During the first week of my summer vacation, I was granted the privilege of attending the 10th Annual Summer Scrub Club in Farmington, held at Franklin Memorial Hospital. Myself and the other 50 students attending performed intubations, sutured real lacerations, earned CPR and AED certification, and participated in a mock accident, requiring us to not only use the things we learned in the club, but recognize which specific skill was needed.

It was a remarkable experience that granted me firsthand experience in the medical field, as I not only performed real-life medical procedures, but did so under certified medical professionals.

I feel that experience and the Scrub Club, as a whole, deserve recognition for the eye-opening program that it is. Because it offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in medical profession experiences so early, the Scrub Club is something that anyone interested in a medical field position should attend.

My experience there was wonderful and astonishing. I feel that those people who worked so hard to bring such a legitimate and helpful program to high school students deserve to have their hard work recognized.

Hamza Taj, Canton, Michigan

Editor’s note: The Summer Scrub Club is primarily sponsored by the Franklin Memorial Hospital Area Health Education Center, a member of the Maine AHEC Network, which is supported by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration.