UMA welcomed 75 high school students to its Bangor campus on May 12 for a Rural Workforce Medical Bootcamp, a day designed to give students a closer look at healthcare and human services careers in Maine.
Students from the Katahdin and Washington County regions spent the day with UMA faculty and staff discovering opportunities in nursing, veterinary technology, dental health, medical laboratory technology, and mental health and human services. They rotated through hands-on activities, asked questions, and learned more about the kinds of careers that support Maine communities every day.
The program gives students an up-close look at different career options, with the hope of one day helping fill workforce needs in some of Maine’s most rural communities.
“If you think about the healthcare team, it’s the whole team. It’s not just about getting a provider to an area. It’s about helping secure professions for students who want to stay in their rural communities but granting them the access to really explore what their options are,” said Shannon Gauvin, director of nursing at the University of Maine at Augusta, in a WABI TV5 story about the event.
The Bangor event followed a recent Medical Bootcamp in Augusta, where approximately 40 Oxford County high school students explored health care programs through hands-on demonstrations in nursing, medical laboratory technology, mental health and human services, and dental programs. The Augusta event was offered in partnership with Community Concepts through a Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities grant.
Together, the two events show how UMA is working with partners across the state to introduce students to healthcare and human services fields earlier, and in a more hands-on way. For many students, a day like this can make these careers feel more real and more within reach.
UMA is grateful to the students, schools, faculty, staff, and partners who helped make the Bangor event possible, including Rural Aspirations Project and Executive Director Korah Soll, whose collaboration helped bring students to campus for the experience.