From July 21 to 25, approximately 100 students from Grades six to 12 participated in the camp at no cost. Guided by UM student volunteers, campers engaged in interactive sessions that brought science to life. 

“This camp is designed to spark curiosity and show students how science shapes the world around us,” said Dr. James Gilchrist, director of the program and professor of oral biology in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. “By engaging in hands-on activities, students see how science moves beyond textbooks and into real-world impact.” 

Youth campers take part in a hands-on workshop. Mohamed Grashoot, pictured in the center, receives a wrist ultrasound.

Activities ranged from foundational topics in basic and biomedical sciences to hands-on applications in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and medical rehabilitation. Campers gained insight into how the health sciences contribute to improving and saving lives. 

Sessions included heart dissection, fingerprint analysis, DNA extraction and more. New this year was the exploration of traditional Indigenous medicines and their relevance and relationship to modern medical practices. 

Mohamed Gashoot, a 15-year-old camp attendee, said he hopes to become a family physician one day. His favourite part of the camp was interacting with the mentors and instructors. 

“I get to ask a lot of questions,” said Gashoot. “It’s a positive environment. They’re extremely kind — they’ll help you understand better. And you’ll make a lot of friends here.” 

From summer camp to the College of Pharmacy 

For more than a decade, the BYP summer camp has inspired many participants to pursue careers in the health sciences. 

Among them is Sean Ticsay, who first found out about the summer camp while searching online for fun things to do in summer. He looked up “summer science camp” and clicked on a link from the UM website, which led him to a promotional page about the BYP camp.

Dr. James Gilchrist and Sean Ticsay at the 2019 BYP Summer Camp.

“I asked my mom if I can join, signed up for the program, my dad dropped me off at Brodie and the rest is history,” Ticsay said. 

He attended the summer camp in 2019, which inspired him to pursue a career in health care. After completing his prerequisites over two years at UM’s Fort Garry campus, he remained focused on his goal of joining the Rady Faculty on the Bannatyne campus. This September, Ticsay will enter his third year in the undergraduate Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program at the College of Pharmacy. 

“I grew up in Winnipeg’s inner city, attending school at Andrew Mynarski and Sisler High. As a person of colour and member of an underrepresented group, the BYP summer camp showed me that I had options and there were possibilities. Hearing from speakers and instructors at the camp and seeing that there were Filipinos like me, there were other people of colour — what I saw was representation, and that gave me inspiration.” 

Youth inspiring youth 

Gilchrist emphasized the importance of youth inspiring youth in the community — a core element of BYP’s success.  

Binita Freider, an undergraduate student from the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, speaks to campers during a dentistry workshop.

For many undergraduate and graduate students at the Rady Faculty, the summer camp is an opportunity to hone their leadership and teaching skills while giving back to the community.

“The student volunteers are the lifeblood of the BYP,” said Gilchrist. “They’re the best people to inspire teenage kids because they are close in age — being just three to six years older than them.” 

Along with student volunteers, Gilchrist also runs the Saturday Science Club at Niji Mahkwa Elementary School’s Inner City Science Centre, in partnership with the Winnipeg School Division. The Saturday science enrichment program invites Indigenous elementary and junior high school students to participate throughout the fall and winter terms, where they engage in the same hands-on activities featured in the summer camp. 

To learn more about BYP, visit: umanitoba.ca/health-sciences/community-and-partners#biomedical-youth-program  

Program director Dr. James Gilchrist does a heart dissection activity with the students.

The volunteers, comprising undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff were enthusiastic about sharing their passion for science with the young students.

“We offer the biomedical camp to pique the curiosity of kids through thought-provoking activities that make science relevant to their lives,” said Dr. James Gilchrist, the program’s director and a professor of oral biology in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. “It’s part of how the U of M connects with the community and shows young people that careers in the health sciences are within their reach.”  

Harjasmin Mander, who graduated this spring with a B.Sc. in biochemistry, led a session on enzymes and digestion. She said she volunteers with the camp because she wants to show the students that science can be exciting.

“I want the children to learn how to think like a scientist, think critically and be curious,” Mander said, “Bench to bedside is a common saying in the medical community, and we want to show the kids that it’s not just what you learn, but how you apply it to patients.”

Students play a game of Operation in a level 4 BioSafety mobile lab

For the first time, the National Microbiology Lab participated in the camp, giving the students the opportunity to explore how scientists work in biocontainment labs to control infectious diseases.

The students experienced what it is like to work in a level 4 BioSafety mobile lab by doing hands-on activities, learned about what types of careers they can pursue in public health research, and participated in a game where they had to guess whether a word given was a “pathogen or Greek city.” Volunteers from the lab also demonstrated the use of a positive pressure suit.

A panel of representatives from the various colleges in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences answer questions from camp attendees.

This year’s camp also featured a new panel session with representatives from medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy and clinical health psychology. Students were able to ask questions and learn about what a career in health sciences entails. The panelists answered questions about how they separate work life from their personal life, what the biggest misconceptions are about their professions and what future advancements they are most excited about in their field.

A highlight of the week-long camp were the hands-on workshops in the Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility (CLSF) – a simulated hospital environment in which the “patients” are high-tech, computer-controlled manikins. The exercise was designed by medicine, nursing and occupational therapy staff to simulate what a typical day looks like for someone in a health profession and demonstrate how the various professions work together to deliver care to patients.

Students learned to take a patient’s blood pressure, give an EpiPen injection, perform CPR and use an ultrasound machine.

Vladan Protudjer, an Instructor II at the College of Nursing and first-time volunteer, said he jumped at the opportunity to help out with the simulation exercises.

“It’s a great way for younger generations to get exposed to the health sciences,” he said, “We hope it will stir up curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to pursue sciences and medical fields. We want them to think about their hopes, dreams, and aspirations and learn how to adequately plan what educational path to take in the future if they decide to go into a health sciences stream.

Camp attendee Sean Ticsay practices his intubation skills at the Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility.

Sean Ticsay, a 15 year old camp attendee, said his favourite part of the camp was the CLSF exercise. “I want to be a surgeon one day. My favourite part was getting to do an intubation. I’m more of a hands-on person, I liked working with people and patients to save a life and feeling the rush of adrenaline.”

Manitoba kids are finding out as they explore science in a university atmosphere at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences’ annual Biomedical Youth Program (BYP) Summer Camp, running from July 15 to 19.

Among the camp’s many hands-on activities are sessions in the Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility – a simulated hospital environment in which the “patients” are high-tech, computer-controlled manikins. Students will learn to take a patient’s blood pressure, give an EpiPen injection, perform CPR and use an ultrasound machine.

About 160 students from Grades 5 to 12 – mostly inner-city youth – are participating in the free BYP camp, guided by volunteers who include U of M students, faculty and staff. As in previous years, high school students from northern Manitoba communities are also attending as part of the more extensive Health Career Quest Summer Camp.

Members of the media are invited to the Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility activities:

What: Biomedical Youth Program Summer Camp
When: Wednesday, July 17, 10:15 a.m.
Where: Meet at Brodie Centre Atrium entrance, 727 McDermot Ave.
Bannatyne Campus, University of Manitoba

“We offer the biomedical camp to pique the curiosity of kids through thought-provoking activities that make science relevant to their lives,” says Dr. James Gilchrist, the program’s director and a professor of oral biology in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. “It’s part of how the U of M connects with the community and shows young people that careers in the health sciences are within their reach.”  

Students rotate through biomedical workshops, participating in activities such as dissecting a pig’s heart, isolating DNA from strawberries, making compounds like sunscreen and lip balm at the College of Pharmacy, and learning about the work of physiotherapists at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences.

For more information:

For more information: Ilana Simon,
Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, U of M, 204-295-6777,
or email: ilana.simon@umanitoba.ca

This year approximately 100 youth have enrolled in the BYC which runs until Friday, July 24. A total of 15 students have registered through the Health Careers Access Program – a University of Manitoba program exclusive to Aboriginal (Métis, Status, Non-Status, Inuit) residents of Manitoba with a strong interest in becoming a health professional.

The Faculty of Health Sciences-hosted event gives budding scientists the chance to experience a typical day through the eyes of a doctor, researcher, scientist, or health professional, by carrying out various hands-on activities in labs, using real laboratory tools and equipment.

Students will have the opportunity to attend up to 10 of the 15 workshops scheduled for the week. Some of the kids are already buzzing about the dentistry workshop, where they get to be a “dentist” for the day, using their thumb to create a ceramic impression. This activity illustrates how a dentist would take an impression of patient’s teeth and use it to make false teeth or molds for night guards or bleaching trays.

A pharmacy session has the “pharmacists-in-training” look at the efficacy of antacid pills using tablets covered with different coatings that regulate the drug’s release, as well as testing UV-blocking creams to see which is the most efficacious.

This is the first camp headed by new Biomedical Youth Program Director James Gilchrist, professor of oral biology in the College of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences.

“One of the things we tried to incorporate within the program is periods of continuity,” says Gilchrist. “The students build on what they’ve learned earlier in the day or week. We’re attempting do to that over the lunch hour by showing videos that refer to workshops the kids will participate in during the camp.”

In addition to the noon hour video, Gilchrist explains the morning and afternoon workshops are also meant to build off one another: “For example, a group did a med physiology workshop in the morning – looking at the heartrate, blood pressure measurements – and in the afternoon they go to the simulation learning facility where they’re expanding on that learning.”

Dr. James Gilchrist, professor of oral biology in the College of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, has invested over three decades pursuing research in heart and muscle adaptations to exercise and disease.

Gilchrist, who has been on the faculty at U of M for 22 years, was welcomed as the new director just over two weeks ago. The BYP was previously led by founding director Dr. Francis Amara, who had spent close to 10 years nurturing an incredible relationship with schools and kids in the community.

Be of service to others

The 62-year-old, born in Kent, England, moved frequently due to his dad’s job with the Royal Air Force. He went to seven different primary schools, one junior high school, two high schools, and lived in Australia for a period.

He says his life growing up was much more different than most of the kids he works with through inner-city initiatives. “I spent most of my time either swimming or just wandering off into the bush and playing make belief,” he recalls of his childhood.

Gilchrist, who has been on the faculty at U of M for 22 years, was recently appointed director of the BYP.

His father —who he says “lived an Indiana Jones kind of life”—was full of idioms that acted as guides to life, ones Gilchrist now passes on to his two kids.

“My father once commented to me on how it was back in those times in England; he said people considered it demeaning to be in a position of service but he always felt it was important that you do offer yourself and to give,” says Gilchrist.

For the last 15 years he has devoted his time to coaching soccer teams, the last five of those split between coaching and volunteer community work; on average he’s volunteering three to four nights a week.

“With my kids I felt it was always important for me to set an example, so I would do volunteer work with them; I would take my daughter down to Winnipeg Harvest when she had to do her rotations (for school), we’d have a dialogue about what this meant and why we’re doing it,” he says.

A good fit

Gilchrist recalls a conversation he had with his eldest child. His 21-year-old son had approached him about what his next steps in life should be. “I told to him, it doesn’t matter what you do, just try and make sure it fits well with you. There are two moments in my life when things fit, the first when I went to do my undergrad. That fit. The second that fits is this job, particularly this positon of working with the BYP.”

He earned an undergraduate degree in sport science training in Liverpool, U.K., and went on to obtain a M.Sc. at the University of Alberta. During his PhD training (at the University of British Columbia) Gilchrist played semi-professional soccer; he stopped playing competitively just five years ago.

He came to Winnipeg to do post-doctoral training with Grant Pierce (a physiology professor in the College of Medicine and executive director of St-Boniface Hospital Research).  It was during that time he first met Amara.

“Francis and I had been colleagues for a long time, over 20 years.  We both started at St-Boniface around the same time and eventually went off in our own directions. We kept in touch and I was always aware he was doing something special … over the last couple of years, I became involved and helped out with the BYP,” says Gilchrist.

Though he’s only just begun his new job, Gilchrist finds his mind is already focused on the Biomedical Youth Program or rapidly moving from one idea to the next.  One of his goals is to teach high school students to be good storytellers so they can go back to their communities and tell stories about what they’ve done or learned and do it in a way that has an impact for the community.

The program is a result of many people working really hard, he says. “I have big shoes to fill, there’s no doubt, but I think the way we’re going to do it by bringing in other people, to form a committee structure.”

The short term plan is to focus upon consolidating the main activities of the program —its involvement in the Winnipeg School Division Science Fair, the Summer Camp, the Inner City Science Centre at Niji Mahkwa School— by engaging a committee of people representing each of the Colleges in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“This is an important message for me because we want to project the idea that it is a faculty-wide initiative in Health Sciences rather than simply a program run by any one particular department,” he explains.  “My long-term vision is to help bring about a better coordination and funding of a number of related activities currently running in Winnipeg that are all directed toward the same thing.”

Gilchrist points out there are many highly dedicated people in Winnipeg who offer similar activities to engage schools, communities and the University with the ultimate goal of enhancing the curiosity of kids towards science and creating better access and support for kids in University Science programs from diverse cultures.

“It’s nice to be involved with the BYP but, as I say to people, this is not about me; this is about moving the program along. It was always that way with Francis and it’s kind of as much to honour Francis that I wanted to keep this going.”