A group of school children are being taught the harsh realities of front line medicine at a special camp in the US. The emergency room scenarios cover anything from learning how to sew up a patient to lifesaving techniques.

Fauquier Hospital is one of twenty-six hospitals in the state of Virginia which are throwing open their doors to budding doctors and nurses this summer.

Nearly eight hundred children are expected to attend medical summer camps in Virginia alone.

The state is targeting middle-school students, so they line up enough science courses for the best shot at increasingly competitive college training programs.

The idea is to show children just how wide ranging a career in critical health can be.Careers vary from nurses, to anaesthetists, to pharmacists, or physiotherapists.

Brianna Bowens, ambition to be a doctor"I can see different body parts and stuff. It's not really hard because I guess I kind of have a stronger stomach I guess."

Nick Hunte, ambitious to be a doctor "I thought it would be fun to experience all the things they do in the hospital."
The course is hands on and practical. The children learn everything from taking blood pressure and examining samples under a microscope, to putting on casts and handling donated eyes.

This medical camp relies on a 15 thousand dollar grant as well as staff volunteers and contributors. The students, ranging from 12 to 14 years of age, are each charged 50 dollars.

Cihan news agency