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The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth is hosting a free, weeklong Latinos en Medicina Camp for Fort Worth and Tarrant County children.

The camp, which starts Monday and ends June 9, is for children ages 10-13 and aims to raise awareness about careers in health care in the Latino community. This is the second year HSC has hosted the camp.

Students from HSC’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Pharmacy and School of Health Professions will teach the campers about healthy living, diseases and health care careers, and have them participate in hands-on activities.

Campers will learn about prevalent diseases that impact Latinos, nutrition, anatomy, mental health and pharmaceutical science. The summer camp will give children the opportunity to learn multiple facets of health care, ranging from clinical skills to sterile compounding and the functions of the body’s internal organs.

The camp has expanded from three days to a week this summer because of its overwhelming success last year.

In Texas, Latinos make up nearly 40% of the population, but fewer than 10% of primary care physicians are Latino.

“We are so excited to have Latinos en Medicina back for a second year,” said Lorena Marin, TCOM’s assistant director of admissions and one of the event’s organizers. “This camp provides children from all backgrounds a chance to learn about medicine and health care with our students, but it’s also an opportunity to inspire them to become involved in medicine. We need more Latinos in the health care profession, and we want this camp to be a memorable one for the children.”

The camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during the week, and each day will focus on an activity within a specific health care discipline and a related educational component.

Monday

This Doctor Day will feature clinical skills activities and will focus on sun safety.

Tuesday

The Physician Assistants Day activity will involve activities related to body organs with a lesson about healthy living.

Wednesday

The second Doctor Day will also feature clinical skills activities with a focus on mental health and medical Spanish.

June 8

Pharmacy Day will include hands-on lessons about sterile compounding and will include a look at medication safety.

June 9

The activity for the second Physical Therapy Day will center on testing the human body, and the educational component will focus on understanding pain.

To register for the free event, go to www.eventbrite.com/e/latinos-en-medicina-tickets-525238832487. Parents must fill out a permission slip and return it to lorena.marin@unthsc.edu. Lunch and snacks will be provided by HSC at no cost.

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