The Medical Learning in Community Settings program at Bluewater Health, also known as MedLINCS, celebrated its tenth anniversary this week.
The one week program aims to inspire local youth to consider future careers in health care.
Founder Dr. Tom Lacroix says 17 Grade 10 and 11 students participated in a variety of health related activities this week organized by two Western University medical students.
"Learning how to put on a cast, how to do an IV, how to do a spinal tap, and they're also doing things with a whole variety of mannequins and simulator robots for them to learn a lot of the different techniques," he says.
Dr. Lacroix adds he has had many former MedLINCS participants return back to Sarnia for future positions in the field.
"We've not only been able to achieve some of our short-term goals with getting more doctors quickly, but we have a long-term plan where we have many more of them in the pipeline who are going to be able to step up and work for us in years to come."
MedLINCS began as a pilot project in Sarnia but has since grown over the years to include seven communities and 150 participants throughout Southwestern Ontario each year.