The Youth Engagement for Success (YES) Camp in June guided Arizona teens to learn about careers in healthcare and the educational opportunities available for them to prepare for work in healthcare and health sciences.

The weeklong Youth Engagement for Success (YES) Camp was held in Aguila, Arizona this summer, a town in rural Maricopa County. The camp, taught by the team from the college’s Mobile Health Unit (MHU) in Phoenix, engaged teens to discover career paths in healthcare and health sciences. The students, all from this underrepresented rural community, learned about a range of careers in the health sciences, from medicine to public health, pharmacy, and community health work.  

Alma Ramirez leads the MHU Phoenix team and she was very pleased with the program. 

“It was a privilege to work with these youth from Aguila, they are smart young people and they care about their community,” said Ramirez, “I hope many of them take what they learned in YES Camp and go on to careers in healthcare so they can help others in Arizona.” 

In addition to learning about healthcare careers, the students gained an in-depth understanding of the opportunities available to them in higher education. They met with University of Arizona academic advisors, and also learned about financial aid and scholarships that would support their educational journeys. Altogether, students in the YES Camp were taught new skills, given direct hands-on experience, and provided with guidance that will help them become the next generation of health leaders for this rural community in Arizona. 

While the camp was coordinated and conducted by the MHU Phoenix team, which is part of the Phoenix Campus of the UArizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health, the YES Camp was also supported by the UArizona Admissions Department, the UArizona’s College of Medicine – Phoenix, Street Medicine Phoenix, Arizona Indians into Medicine, and Leadership in Equity for American Indian Health Research and Development Program (LEAD). Other community partners for YES Camp include the Central Arizona Area Health Education Center, the Maricopa County Public Health Department, Arizona Mobile Training, and the Maricopa County Public Library District – Aguila.

Watch the 2022 YES Camp Slideshow Video Here