Dozens of Medical Students Descend Upon Lake James State Park
Dozens descended upon Lake James for Wake Forest University’s (WFU) Wildmed Lake Weekend, a wilderness medicine training program for medical and PA students from UNC-Chapel Hill and WFU.
We are routinely hosting educational programs at Lake James State Park.
Sometimes our park rangers are doing the instructing. And, at other times, it’s some of western North Carolina’s most knowledgeable educators, such as the wilderness EMS experts and medical professionals who were busy this past month preparing the next generation.
Two weeks ago, dozens descended upon Lake James for Wake Forest University’s (WFU) Wildmed Lake Weekend, a wilderness medicine training program for medical and PA students from UNC-Chapel Hill and WFU.
They seemed to have a, well, wild but incredibly educational time.
Spearheaded by Dr. Seth Collings Hawkins each August, this year set a record with 72 participants.
“Wilderness and austere medicine in the past was thought of as a hobby or as a niche medical specialty,” Hawkins explains, “but as the importance of rural care and the benefits of wilderness exposure become more prominent, this kind of exposure for medical students becomes ever more important.”
The first day’s activities included paddling canoes from the boat rental area east across the water to the Long Arm Campground. It can only be reached by kayak, canoe, or watercraft. They were only slightly delayed by lightning and thunderstorms, but all the students made it safely across.
WFU Wildmed Lake Weekend participants then enjoyed an evening of camaraderie, earning a much-needed break from their usual exams and medical studies.
“Getting medical students out in the wilderness is a natural fit,” he continues. “It’s healing for them, it exposes them to the benefits of nature for patients, and it reinforces that wilderness medicine and EMS are now medical specialties in their own right.”
On the second day, ten instructors were ferried across to join the program at Long Arm. Their day’s training included search and rescue, helicopter operations, aquatic rescue and resuscitation, survival, hemorrhage control, patient packaging, and risk management.
Uncharacteristically, they had to weather yet another round of lightning. This provided them with an unplanned opportunity to debrief on the intersection between wilderness medicine and storm dangers.
Students discussed the safety third movement and twenty-first-century roles of physicians and PAs in wilderness EMS. Throughout it all they had the chance to network, find mentorship, and further their professional development.
Once all the work and learning were done, participants spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the peninsula, paddling (this time for fun), and enjoying a knockout dinner, which may or may not have included s’mores. When they graduate and move on to full-time medical placements, they’re sure to remember this weekend of hands-on education and a night of camping in the foothills of Appalachia.
As with many events and programs that take place at Lake James State Park throughout the year, it takes a village to ensure their success.
WFU Wildmed Lake Weekend featured several quick-witted and insightful instructors:
Chris Anderson
James Robinson
Greg Huntley
Brent Curry
Graham Neville
Lake White
Alex Vaughn
Seth Collings Hawkins
Externs Laura Westneat and Bret Naanep assisted with the day-to-day operations of the program while volunteers Kelly Collings Hawkins and Jeffrey Howard provided additional support.
Also, a big shout out to on-duty rangers Nora Coffey and Jenny Hughes. Little happens at Lake James State Park without their management and leadership.
“The ability to contribute to the training of the next generation of healthcare professionals is a treasured opportunity,” Hawkins says, “and in so many ways there is no better classroom than the wilderness. Lake James is the perfect medical and public health classroom!”
We look forward to next year’s batch of medical experts and soon-to-be physicians and PAs.
