Local high school senior returns from NC with medical experience

POCATELLO — A highschool senior was invited to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine, termed a “medical intensive,” across the country over the summer. She was the only person from Idaho to attend.

The medical intensive was essentially a summer camp for exceptional students pursuing careers in medicine, where they were able to learn about an array of careers in the medical field.

Makayla Lambson, going into her senior year at Highland High School, has been passionate about the medical field since she was a little kid, responding that she wanted to be a veterinarian or doctor when adults asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up. When she received the invitation to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine in North Carolina, she knew she had to attend.

“It was something completely new to me,” Makayla said.

Makayla’s mother, Debbie Lambson, has watched her grow up through her youth and now loves to hear about what Makayla learned in her early college classes.

“She’s always telling us all these fascinating things that she’s learning about and she’s super self-motivated and a self starter,” Debbie said.

Makayla, who’s now a sophomore in college as well as a high school senior, was invited to the medical intensive at Campbell University because of her college classes and high grade point average.

“Coming to this camp, everyone there had an interest in being in medicine and everyone there wanted to learn,” Makayla said. “So it created really good discussions and we got to learn a whole lot more than we would sitting in a classroom.”

Makayla left for the medical intensive midway through June and it lasted nine days. She said it was a unique experience because it gave her and the other young people in attendance the chance to look at different careers in the medical field.

“It brings a bunch of youth together and teaches them a little bit about the medical field and gives them a little bit of insight that they wouldn’t normally get in high school classes or in volunteering,” Makayla said.

Makayla said they got the opportunity to learn about biomedical engineering, physical therapy, surgical nursing, mock patient interviews, medical ethics and neurological exams. She said they even got to practice suturing and brought home their suture kits, disaster triage, patient simulations and mock surgery.

The students even got the chance to tour Campbell University as well as some of the other local colleges in the area.

Makayla said the hands-on experience they got at the medical intensive was something they couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.

She said the medical intensive allowed them to, “take another step further into learning what med students do and what doctors are doing and how they got there.”

Makayla is still deciding what she wants to do in the medical field, but she has it narrowed down to either becoming an OBGYN or emergency medicine.

In regards to becoming an OBGYN, “I’ve always been interested in growth and development and working with women and women’s health,” Makayla said. “If that is the path I take, I want to advocate for women’s health.”

As for going into emergency medicine, “I really found an interest in helping people and figuring out what they have in a very fast-paced environment,” Makayla said. “It’s very interesting to learn and you pick up on a lot of things very quickly.”

Whatever Makayla decides to do, she feels that the medical intensive has better prepared her for her career path in the medical field.