title: Does a participant's perceived self-efficacy of healthcare professions improve following a week-long informational camp for high school students?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine if a week-long summer day camp for high school students to learn about various healthcare professions could influence the students' perceived self-efficacy and knowledge of healthcare careers related to sports medicine. Additionally, we investigated if there was a relationship between level of parent education and the participants' self-efficacy scores before and after camp.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 13 male and 13 female (n=26) students from five area high schools with an average age of 15.8 yrs (range, 15 to 17 yrs). Participants were predominantly of Hispanic origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pre- and post-intervention survey was used to collect participants' demographic data and to assess participants' perceived self-efficacy towards the healthcare field and their knowledge of different healthcare careers. A paired, two-tailed t-test was used to determine if perceived self-efficacy scores before and after the camp differed. A linear regression analysis was run to determine if parental education was a predictor for the difference in self-efficacy scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a statistically significant difference between perceived self-efficacy scores before and after the camp. Parental education was not found to be a significant predictor for the difference in participants' self-efficacy scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The evidence suggests that attendance at a summer program that allowed students to learn about and interact with various healthcare professionals significantly improves perceived self-efficacy towards pursuing a career in the healthcare field. Parental education may not be a predicting factor for the change in perceived self-efficacy after attendance at such educational camps.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr, MSC 6247, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. Tel 210-567-8757, fax 210-567-8774. ernstg@uthscsa.edu.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belrose
authors.forename: Jetta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eckhardt
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hild
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002321:Career Choice; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires