Learning directly from the people who know: Radford University co-hosts Governor’s Summer Residential School for Medicine and Health Sciences in Roanoke

Over three weeks in late June and early July, 20 high-achieving students from across the state of Virginia participated in the Governor's Summer Residential School for Medicine and Health Sciences (MHS), an immersive, hands-on healthcare experience.

This is the third consecutive year that Radford University and the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers have partnered with Carilion Clinic to host the initiative in Roanoke. It is one of seven Summer Regional Governor's Schoolsacross the state this year.

MHS, which selects participants from applications submitted by rising junior and senior high school students across the state, has three goals:

• To enhance the connection between research in health sciences and the practice of medicine.
• To provide an opportunity for students to explore various aspects of medicine and health sciences through diverse and synergistic thinking and questioning.
• To immerse students in complex analysis and critical thinking exercises that involve real-world scenarios to deepen their understanding of concepts and practices within the medical field.

Students spend each day visiting healthcare education institutions, providers and research facilities across the Roanoke region, including areas and programs at Radford University Carilion (RUC), Carilion Clinic, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, among others. All participants have shown interest in entering the healthcare profession in some capacity, and the school allows them to learn more about the areas and specialties they want to explore.

At RUC, the students met with faculty and students from the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Leadership and the physician assistant (PA), occupational therapy, medical laboratory science, respiratory therapy and emergency services programs. In addition, they met with faculty and students from Radford's nursing program at the Roanoke Higher Education Center and the social work and speech pathology programs on the main campus in Radford. They also had CPR training at RUC, met with representatives of the Roanoke City Health Department at Roanoke College, met Carilion Clinic employees to talk about wilderness medicine and nursing and worked in various areas at the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke. Finally, they met with representatives at Virginia Western Community College to discuss the dental hygiene, radiology, surgical technology and radiation oncology programs and participated in lab tours at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Diagnostics and Translational Research Laboratory.

"They had the chance to explore 30 healthcare and biotech professions through this experience," said Glen Mayhew, director of MHS and associate dean for the Radford University Waldron College of Health and Human Services, "but it also connected the professions and the role they play in the healthcare ecosystem."

This understanding of how teams of healthcare professionals work together, also known as interprofessional education, made an impact on many of the students involved, including Christina Hatcher, a rising high school senior from Portsmouth.

"The medical field is essentially a team sport," Hatcher said, "so being able to interact with members of healthcare groups helps us understand each of their roles and what they bring to treating patients."

That chance to interact with individual members of healthcare teams is an invaluable part of the experience, according to Henry Fedak, a high school senior from Roanoke.

"It's not difficult to find training and watch lectures from healthcare professionals on the Internet," Fedak said, "but in this school, we have the chance to talk one-on-one with a physician or a nurse or a physician assistant. We get to ask them a ton of personal questions, and there's always time for more questions and really asking about their life and how they feel, which is something you can't get online."

Cynthia Lawrence, president of the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers and director of Workforce Development at Carilion Clinic, agreed, saying that the initiative fosters curiosity, critical thinking and a commitment to service.

"Beyond career exploration, the program represents a strategic investment in the next generation of healthcare leaders and highlights the importance of public health in advancing the greater good," Lawrence said. She added that it is inspiring to watch students' awareness and enthusiasm increase about the sheer number of health professions available to them as they benefit from the time and expertise contributed by physicians and healthcare professionals across Carilion Clinic and the other organizations involved.

Sthiti Rath, a student from Lynchburg, said that one of her favorite experiences during the school was the chance to shadow a CRNA [certified registered nurse anesthetist].

"It was an area that I hadn't considered before," she said, "but the feeling of getting scrubbed in for the first time so I could observe an endoscopy surgery and to see what anesthesia does in the background - that really strengthened my interest in surgery and all the different kinds of aspects of it. And I'm just really excited for what the future holds."

That excitement and motivation to investigate various healthcare careers is what organizers of MHS hope students leave with, in addition to their newfound experience.

"One of the most satisfying parts of this program is watching the students experience real-life clinical and research experiences with different professions," Mayhew said. "Students have commented about how valuable this is in either confirming their passions for a particular profession or in discovering something new that takes them down a different healthcare career pathway."

For example, Jasmine Franco of Midlothian is still focused on being a physician but is also now considering becoming a PA.

"There were so many experiences that I really enjoyed, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be when we got to work with a lot of the PAs," she said. "We got to work with the students on the equipment they use with patients, but we also got to just talk to the PA students, which I found very insightful. It helped me figure out the big differences between being an MD and a PA. I was able to ask them why they chose the path that they did. It was a great opportunity to learn directly from the people who can give me advice and help me decide."

For other students, like Raghav Kuruba, from McLean, the experiences helped strengthen their interests.

"I was really interested in neuroscience specifically, like the spinal cord," he said. "And while I was shadowing, I actually got to see a really cool CSF drain, which is a type of implant that they use to drain fluid from the spine. I think that strengthened my interest in the field. And that's definitely what I want to go into."

In addition to the clinical opportunities, the school's participants also formed teams and tackled complex, persistent healthcare problems and social issues. The teams met periodically during the program and presented their findings as a group near the end of the three weeks. Topics included the correlation between the increase of drug-induced psychosis and the legalization of marijuana; the lack of emergency medical services in rural communities; the prevalence of parental alcohol abuse and its effects on children; and vaping in the adolescent community and its effects.

Lawrence said that by giving students the chance to work together on these projects, they can collaborate to see how research, innovation, clinical care and public health work together to improve outcomes for patients of all ages.

"These experiences build the knowledge, empathy and problem-solving skills needed to support an aging population and advance healthier communities for generations to come," she added.

Mayhew agrees. Saying that, "Taking the students into the clinical and research environments where they get to observe side by side with the professionals in practice is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these kids. It brings the curriculum to life in a real-world environment."

"I would have never gotten these experiences anywhere else," Hatcher said. "I feel like getting to do these things through the governor's school is very, very inspiring. It makes me want to give back, and it makes me want to be part of the healthcare community."

During the final week of the program, the MHS closed the 2026 session with a "white coat ceremony" held at VTCSOM. The ceremony is a culminating moment, after three weeks of immersive learning, when the white physician's coat is placed on the students. It symbolizes the responsibility and privilege that healthcare providers have in caring for their fellow human beings.

The end of the program doesn't mean the end of contact with the participants, though. Lawrence said that the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers is actively building a process to stay engaged with the students beyond the school, helping them explore career pathways regionally and across the commonwealth as they continue their educational and professional journeys.

"Expanding sustained engagement beyond the program will be key," Lawrence said. "Creating pathways for mentorship, internships and continued exposure to clinical, research and community health settings can serve as a long-term talent development strategy that supports the future workforce needs of the region and commonwealth."