2011 Annual Conference

Ernst, Greg

The purpose of this study was to determine if a week long summer program focused on providing an opportunity for participants to learn about and interact with a variety of healthcare professionals could influence the participants’ perceived self efficacy and knowledge of healthcare careers related to sports medicine. Additionally, the purpose of this study was to investigate if there was a relationship between parent education and the participants self efficacy scores before and after the camp.

We recruited 13 male and 13 female (N=26) high school students from five area high schools with an average age of 15.8 and age range from 15 to 17. Of the participants, twenty were of Hispanic origin, 1 Caucasian, 2 Asian and 3 of other origin.

A pre and post survey instrument was used to assess students’ perceived self efficacy towards the healthcare professions related to sports medicine, their knowledge of different healthcare careers and to gather participants’ demographic data.

A statistical analysis using a paired, two tailed t-test was used to evaluate the difference in pre-survey and post-survey self efficacy scores. A linear regression analysis was run to determine if parental education was a predictor for a pre-survey and post-survey self-efficacy score difference.

We found a statistically significant difference between perceived self efficacy scores before the camp compared to perceived self efficacy scores after the camp. Parental education was not found to be a significant predictor for the difference in self efficacy scores on the participants’ pre and post surveys.

There is evidence to suggest that attendance at a summer program that allows high school students to learn about and interact with healthcare professionals will significantly improve perceived self efficacy towards pursuing a healthcare career related to sports medicine. Parental education may not be a predicting factor for the change in perceived self efficacy after attendance to such educational camps. Further research should be conducted to determine the significance of other factors such as ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, parent education and academic achievement on an individual’s perceived self efficacy. Additionally, further testing regarding the influence of educational programs on adolescents’ career choices may benefit recruitment in healthcare professions.

Attendance at a summer camp that teaches high school students about various healthcare professions can increase participants’ self efficacy and improve knowledge about the specific professions discussed. Healthcare career educational programs should consider implementing such programs to improve recruitment among potential students.