Playing doctor: Free summer camp encourages northern Alberta high schoolers to consider medicine
Gillian Rutherford - 26 March 2025
Medical student Jason Wang teaches Madda Rodriguez Signorini how to insert an IV at last summer's Asclepius camp in Grande Prairie (Photo: supplied)
Last summer’s Asclepius Medical Camp for Youth in Grande Prairie was an “eye-opener” for Madda Rodriguez Signorini.
Signorini grew up in Grimshaw in northwestern Alberta, completed Grade 12 in Peace River, and was ready to start university as a science student in hopes of one day getting into med school.
“I thought I knew a lot about medicine before the camp, but going to the camp was definitely very helpful,” she remembers. She learned how to interview patients, do a physical exam, insert an intravenous line, even suture a wound.
And then there was the “discovery learning” case: Over three days, the students learned about a farmer who needed treatment for lung cancer. But getting the right diagnosis was just the beginning. It was harvest season, and he had to decide what to do. In the end — with advice from Signorini and the rest of the student medical team — this imagined patient ended up waiting to begin treatment until after his crop was in.
“It was his livelihood versus his life,” says Signorini. “It was a lot to think about. That ethical part of medicine was not something I had thought about before.”
Asclepius (named after the Greek god of medicine) was founded in 2009 by University of Alberta medical students as a way to encourage young people from under-represented populations to consider medicine — whether their barriers are financial, cultural, social or regional.
Grande Prairie surgeon Dr. Johan Bolton teaches campers, including Madda Rodriguez Signorini (left), how to use a suture kit. (Video: supplied)
Asclepius is held every summer on the U of A’s North Campus in Edmonton, but last year, a second camp was offered in northern Alberta. Forty students in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 from communities such as Grande Prairie, Peace River, Whitecourt, Cold Lake and Beaverlodge attended the free three-day camp.
Many rural communities in Alberta face a shortage of doctors. The first class in the U of A’s new Northern Alberta Medical Program (NAMP) at Northwestern Polytechnic starts this fall, and research shows that students who were raised and educated in rural communities are more likely to choose rural medicine for their careers. The Grande Prairie Asclepius camp is an effort to interest more rural students in med school.
“They’re able to meet each other, collaborate, learn hands-on skills and experience medicine in real time, but also really enjoy themselves,” says Jason Wang, who volunteered at last year’s Grande Prairie camp and is the co-lead for this year. “We’re just trying to break down barriers and ensure that any student who wants to try to pursue medicine gets the opportunity through our camps.”
Madda Rodriguez Signorini receives her camp completion certificate from medical student and camp volunteer Kira Eberts. (Photo: supplied)
The camps are run by a dozen first- and second-year medical students who volunteer their time, with support from local doctors such as Richard Martin, a family doctor, assistant clinical professor of medicine and regional academic lead for NAMP and surgeon Johan Bolton. Heather Shonoski, a rural physician from Peace River, developed the discovery learning case along with medical student Jessica Bennett, a student leader who intends to go into rural surgery. The hope is the first NAMP class will pitch in to run next year’s northern camp.
Signorini is now nearly through her first year at the U of A, where she studies immunology and infection and volunteers with University of Alberta Women in Science and Engineering. She is considering rural family medicine as her future career and plans to write the med school entrance exam after second year — thanks to advice she received at camp.
“It was such a good opportunity to learn about different aspects of medicine, consider what I could do with my future and connect with a whole bunch of people,” Signorini enthuses.
Wang says there is room for 50 students at this year’s Grande Prairie camp, which has been extended to four days (July 22-25). Applications will be accepted until mid-June.
To learn more or apply, please visit Asclepius Medical Camp for Youth.
Campers at the 2024 Grande Prairie Asclepius camp for high school students with an interest in medicine (Photo: supplied)