RANKIN INLET - A group of Inuit youth in Rankin Inlet had the chance to try on a career in health for size this past week.

Cousins Zachary Ugjuk and Jassen Ugjuk, right, team up for a lesson on the proper way to make a cast during an Acura Health Career Camp in Rankin Inlet in August of 2010. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The Acura Health Science and Career Camp ran from Aug. 913, and was aimed at Inuit youth aged 11 to 13.

The camp featured a number of educational and funfilled activities delivered by Acura instructors Sarah Chamberlain of Nova Scotia, and Ontario's Jeanne Tremblay and Lauren Zintel.

Chamberlain said the camp was a pilot project held in Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay.

She said the goal of the project was to expose kids to different health careers, especially ones in their community, so they can contribute and give back to their communities.

"We wanted to catch the kids right at that age when they're starting to think about their course selections in high school," said Chamberlain.

"So, we're really trying to plant the seeds of the career opportunities available to them in the future.

"We work with Nunavut Arctic College, which offers a lot of healthcareer programs kids can get involved with as they get older.

"We're not trying to convince kids to get into careers they're not interested in, but, if four or five kids who participated in this camp realized something they really enjoyed and pursued it, that would be a huge success."

The group of kids who attended the Rankin camp numbered from 17 to 20 during the week.

They were exposed to activities such as a visit to the Kivalliq Regional Health Centre, and learning about X-rays, how the human body works, and how to make casts and model bones.

They even saw a real placenta with the midwives.

Chamberlain said the staff at the health centre were great to work with the kids.

She said the job-shadowing visit gave the kids a good sense of what the different careers are all about.

"We also did wound-healing suturing, which the kids really enjoyed.

"Most of them sew with their parents or grandparents, so it was a way to bring that into the health careers.

"The kids were super excited all week; asking us, and the different mentors at the health centre, a lot of great questions.

"Hopefully, the camps will be viewed as a big success this year, and we'll have the opportunity to come back again and expand the program to other communities."

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