The Sports Medicine Club (SMC), run by Camas High School (CHS) Head Athletic Trainer Jacob Howell at CHS provides many options for people interested in physical therapy and other medical-related careers. During the 2024-2025 school year at CHS, SMC is allowing its members to interact with the medical community firsthand.
“The club is in a chapter of the Washington Career and Technical Sports Medicine Association which facilitates the state competition the club participates in where there are representatives from [local colleges] who are at the event,” Howell said.
At the club’s state competition, the representatives provide advice that these students can use and take advantage of. The competition itself has medical technology the students can get accustomed to that they would not be able to see anywhere else.
There are also companies that the students can interact with that help them network and set themselves up for success in their future medical careers at these competitions.
The club provides important opportunities for students to get involved in the medical community but it also helps provide them with information about working with patients.
“It is helping me interact with patients and also how [Howell] treats [their injuries],” CHS senior and SMC Member Greta Barbarskite said. “All of the different injuries that happen [at CHS] and how [he] approaches the injury are important firsthand experiences the training room gives me.”
There are several opportunities SMC offers students that aim to help them become knowledgeable on the body and to see the happenings of injuries and how to help them.
“You do not just hear and see it in a book but you can see it in action and treat people’s injuries when they occur,” CHS senior and President of SMC Justus Yoshimura said.
The members of the club are allowed to go down to the pitch in soccer and work with the football players, as well as help participants in other sports when they have injuries during play. This opportunity helps them get accustomed to working with real people and injuries that are occurring in real-time as opposed to scenarios made up in a classroom.
To raise funds for the club, SMC runs concession stands during various sporting events. In doing so, SMC can participate in events that can help further their knowledge and grow their connections with people in the medical community.
