CLARKSDALE – Long, lazy summer hours may be cool for some Delta teens.

But 35 other high school juniors and seniors in residency programs at Coahoma Community College have been experiencing classroom academics, dorm life, and an introduction into programs that can turn around Mississippi’s negative health problems.

“From 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. for the past two weeks, these interns have been involved in structured allied health and nursing programs,” explains Letha Richards, director of the Mississippi Delta Alliance.

Richards says their days have been packed with lectures and labs on anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, nursing fundamentals at the college, the Allied Health Center, Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, and the Aaron E. Henry Community Center.

To document what they learned, 23 made presentations Thursday on allied health issues, and 12 nursing interns followed on Friday.

The presentations at Whiteside Hall played to a packed house that learned about Mississippi’s highest teenage pregnancy, infant mortality rates, and solutions as simple as “always wash your hands.”

The “Let’s Change It” conclusion drew cheers from the audience of other students parents, faculty, staff, Upward Bound partipants, and youngsters attending the Math and Science Enrichment program.

“This is a wonderful program; they are learning a great deal about health issues,” says Patrice Scott of Shelby, mother of 16-year-old Shanecca Graham, a student at Broadstreet High School who talked about Sarcodosis.

Other allied health topics included skin cancer, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, handwashing, pulmonary fibrosis, Swine Flu, sarcodasis, heart disease, boils, ulcers, and congestive heart failure.

On Friday, 12 nursing interns talked about ulcers, infant mortality, obesity in the Mississippi Delta, the human papillomavirus, pandemic vs. epidemic, teenage pregnancy, and ethical issues in healthcare.

To conclude the program, the interns will travel to Atlanta June 24-28 where Richards says they will tour the Center for Disease Control, Emory University, a Sleep Center, and view robotic surgery.

Attending were top students from Clarksdale High School, Coahoma Agricultural High, East Side High in Cleveland, Madison Palmer High in Quitman County, West Bolivar High in Rosedale, Broadstreet High in Shelby, and John F. Kennedy High in Mound Bayou. The program was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.