Camp Tiger 2022: An In-Person Success
>Camp Tiger is a week-long summer day camp for children who are physically and/or mentally challenged and between the ages of 6 and 15. The camp is free of charge and provides the children with the quintessential summer camp experience.
“Camp Tiger 2022 was absolutely wonderful,” said Dr. Kyle Fulton, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and medical advisor to the camp since 2017. “We were able to take the children to the zoo, aquarium, Children's Museum, City Park's Storyland, bowling, and Global Wildlife … and no outbreak of COVID!”
Dr. Fulton said Camp Tiger is important because it is a camp for children who otherwise would not get the typical summer camp experience. “For one week, these children are the superstars and get to play with children with similar needs,” he said.
Camp Tiger has been staffed by rising second-year and incoming first-year School of Medicine students throughout its 35-year history. Two medical students are assigned to every camper.
In 2020, the camp had to be canceled due to COVID, and in 2021 the camp was held virtually. Dr. Fulton said one of the hardest things he has had to do was to tell families that the camp was canceled in 2020.
“Parents tell us their children wake up for months after camp asking to go back,” he said. “The parents look forward to it because their children enjoy it so much.”
The camp has grown tremendously over the years, from the initial camp that required a single school bus to 2019 which required 10 Hotard buses to transport 130 special needs children and more than 300 medical students. After being forced to cancel in 2020 and go virtual in 2021, 2022 saw somewhat limited numbers but was still able to serve 50 children in person.
Camp Tiger provides medical students the opportunity to practice compassion and also serves as a team-building experience for the students. Students work together closely but also have fun. “This camp provides the students with their first patient,” Dr. Fulton said. “We begin the camp by telling the students, ‘This week, your camper is you only concern.'”
The camp culminates with a carnival on the grounds of the Dental School.
Beyond organizing and staffing the camp itself, the medical students raise funds to run the camp. Each spring, they hold an auction that raises money so that the camp can be offered free of charge. Dr. Fulton noted that medical school alumni have been tremendously supportive of the camp and annual auction.
The camp is possible because of widespread support. Dr. Fulton noted that Dr. Taniya DeSilva, Acting Section Chief and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, served as a volunteer for the camp this year and that Dr. Cathy Lazarus, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Records, has championed the camp for years.
“Camp Tiger is a very special program that was started a long time ago, and I am proud of the students' ability through the decades to keep it going and to keep the legacy going,” Dr. Fulton said.
To watch a short video highlighting the campers' and counselors' fun, go to https://youtu.be/77_LP2THfIk
