Riverview’s St. Joseph’s Hospital-South hosted a two-day career camp this summer for students entering the ninth or 10th grade in the 2026-2027 school year. The camp gave students opportunities to learn hands-on about different hospital careers. St. Joseph’s Hospital-South campers toured hospital departments, received presentations from hospital staff and participated in interactive classes.
Department tours and presentation highlights included surgery, nursing simulation, pet therapy, rehabilitation, radiology, maternity, respiratory therapy, laboratory/phlebotomy, pharmacy, physician careers, pediatrics/child life and nutrition/dietitian.
The St. Joseph’s Hospital-South camp is part of a series of career camps across the BayCare Health System this summer in an effort to inspire the next generation of health care workers.
Lucy Thurmond, who will be a ninth grader this school year at Sumner High School, said she wanted to attend the career camp because she is interested in a career in the maternity field.
“I think this (the camp) was a great experience and opportunity for people who have not been around a hospital before to see what it could be like,” Lucy said.
Lucy added that she was excited to learn that there are multiple maternity areas that she could do besides labor and delivery.
“I can do Mom & Baby, the NICU — there are lots of other things,” she said.
This was the first year that the camps came to St. Joseph’s Hospital-South.
Melissa Menke, St. Joseph’s Hospital’s clinical professional practice manager and one of the camp organizers and coordinators, said the expansion to St. Joseph’s Hospital-South was because of substantial community demand.
“We’ve been trying to expand our outreach and bring more young people into our facilities and expose them to health care careers,” Menke said. “We wanted to give more students in the geographical regions and communities across our system the opportunity to participate.”
For those interested in the St. Joseph’s Hospital-South Career Camp in the summer of 2027, look for a registration announcement on the St. Joseph’s Hospital-South Facebook page (www.facebook.com/stjosephssouth/) starting in March 2027. Those interested can also email stjosephscareercamp@baycare.org for further information.
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