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Case Medical Students Visit Camp Ho Mita Koda

On Thursday, July 13, 2006, 142 first year medical students from Case School of Medicine visited community sites that focused on diagnosing, managing, or preventing diabetes. Seven of these students visited Camp Ho Mita Koda.

Dr. David Aron and Catherine Kane served as preceptors. Dr. David Aron is Director of the VA Health Services Research and Development Center for Quality Improvement Research and Director of the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program as well as Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Case. Dr. Aron is responsible for the first two weeks of orientation that focuses on diabetes. Catherine Kane is the Netwellness Coordinator from Office of Urban Health-Urban Area Health Education Center at Case.

Medical students spent four hours at camp engaged in a variety of activities:

• Sarah Beaumont Henderson, Assistant Camp Director, provided an overview of the camp, its history, programs, and staffing.
• Two of Camp’s summer dietetic interns presented an overview of the nutrition program at camp. They discussed a variety of topics that are reviewed with campers during the summer including carbohydrate counting and portion sizes. They shared information about camp menu planning, the role of interns during meals, and monitoring and record keeping. The interns also explained how nutrition education is incorporated into some activities such as cooking classes and themed meals (i.e. "Breakfast on the Go" or "Cheeseburgers in Paradise").
• Students toured camp, stopping to watch one group of campers racing kayaks in the pool, another group participating in a high ropes challenge course activity, and a third group participating in a yoga class.
• Before lunch, the students accompanied campers to their cabins to observe blood glucose testing. Campers in the Best Friends Cabin assisted some of the students with testing their own blood. The campers talked to the students about what it was like to live with diabetes, when they were diagnosed, and how much they enjoyed camp.
• Students observed campers administering their own shots under the supervision of dispensary staff members.
• Students ate lunch in the dining hall with their cabin. One of the students learned that if you don’t drink all of your milk, you have to do as many push ups as there are drops of milk left in the carton! (of course this was all in fun, and not really required of campers!)

Camp Ho Mita Koda was pleased to be involved as a community site for Case School of Medicine’s student orientation.