Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times

Ashlee Riggs, 12, (right) gives chest compressions to a dummy as part of CPR training at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem. Behind her, from left, Olivia Allen, 14, Sarah Smith, 13, Amy Karbach, 13, and Soni Patolia, 13, work on another dummy.

Shannon Conway, 13, learns how to pull a tick from skin, while practicing pulling a clove from an orange with tweezers. The activity is part of a weeklong camp at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem for students who show an interest in health care careers.

David Valladares has wanted to be a pharmacist since he was 6 years old.

Now 12, David said he still thinks following in the footsteps of his mother, who fills prescriptions at CVS, is a good plan.

But a camp this week to introduce middle school students to health care professions may have David considering a few other careers as well.

"I also like pediatricians and radiology," David said Wednesday.

Lewis-Gale Medical Center is trying to cultivate other young people's interest in health care, too.

"If we start at this age we can show them all the different health care careers available," said Nancy Boyer, co-director of the Lewis-Gale Camp Healthcare being held at the hospital.

David and 16 other rising eighth-graders are participating in the camp as part of a larger effort by the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association to attract young people to careers in health.

"I've learned a lot of stuff," said participant Rachel Dill, 13. "I really like the microbiology stuff and now I'm not really sure what I will do. But I would like to find out more about microbiology. I'd like to go more in depth and learn more."

Rachel said prior to the camp that she thought she wanted to be a surgeon or anesthesiologist, but the exposure to microbiology and the mixing of pharmaceuticals caught her attention.

The state hospital association has distributed $120,000 in grants to 27 of its member hospitals to cover half the cost of the camps this year. The other half is covered by the individual hospital. Boyer declined to say how much Lewis-Gale received.

"One of the concerns of the health care community is where will we find the work force of the future," said Barbara Brown, a vice president with the association. "We hear of boomers already retiring and as everyone else retirees they become our [the health care industry's] workload."

Retiring baby boomers also make up a significant part of the health care work force. Additionally, advancements in medicine, including new technologies, treatments and procedures, have led to the creation of more jobs.

In some instances career interest has not kept pace with the changes and need, leaving shortages in several key areas.

Nurses and pharmacists are two professions experiencing shortages nationwide. Nurses are in such high demand that a nurse can typically move to any community and be hired quickly, Brown said.

"Our clinical needs are no different than any other hospital nationwide," said Nancy May, Lewis-Gale spokeswoman, noting that between January and May the hospital hired 75 new nurses. "While it is a challenge today, it is going to be even more of a challenge in years down the road."

The program has also grown statewide, having started five years ago with eight hospitals. Lewis-Gale began the camp three years ago with 10 rising eighth-graders.

Carilion Clinic has held a similar camp in the past, but is not hosting one this year.

Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart said the camp will return next year and that Carilion has other ongoing efforts to attract young people to health care professions. One program brings nurses and other medical employees to classrooms.

"We want kids to be thinking about health care as a career early on and be excited about it," Earnhart said. "They are great careers."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates health care will generate 3 million new jobs between 2006 and 2016. That's more than any other industry.

With seven of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in health care, the government projects that some fields in particular will see rapid growth.

Topping the list, the U.S. Department of Labor has projected total employment of home health aides to increase by 49 percent by 2016. Pharmacists positions are projected to rise 22.2 percent.

The camp at Lewis-Gale wasn't simply about filling future positions. The students, who were all dressed in navy blue scrubs and had stethoscopes around their necks, were also given hands-on experience for responding to various medical situations.

Wednesday's focus was emergency care and included lessons in giving CPR, treating cuts and removing ticks. For removing ticks, the students were given an orange with cloves and tweezers. Each used the tweezers to pull the tick (the clove) out of the orange.

David said he hopes he can do a similar camp again.

"If school was like this I would come every day," he said.