Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville kicked off its 2016 Science, Service, Medicine and Mentoring (S2M2) program with over 100 ninth and tenth grade students at Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts Nov. 5.

"We are very proud of our relationship with Naval Hospital Jacksonville," said Carol Daniels, principal, Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts. "This program affords our students the opportunity to exercise real-world application of their studies here at Darnell-Cookman."

Eight NH Jacksonville clinicians--a pharmacist, dentist, general surgeon, nurse, obstetrician/gynecologist, independent duty corpsman and two family medicine physicians--were on-hand to share their inspirational stories in Navy Medicine and the paths they traveled to get there. S2M2 student alumni also shared their experiences.

After the panel, students gathered in small groups, rotating to each clinician to hear first-hand about their unique role in healing our nation's heroes.

Rising 10th and 11th graders selected for NH Jacksonville's summer internship will participate in lectures, workshops, clinical rotations and real-world medical experiences in outpatient, inpatient and surgical areas of the hospital. Students also learn how hospital corpsmen are prepared to provide care on the front lines, participate in a bones and joints workshop and experience the simulation laboratory.

"S2M2 is an opportunity for Navy Medicine professionals to interact with students who have a desire to pursue medicine as a potential career," said Cmdr. James Keck, family medicine residency program coordinator and physician, NH Jacksonville. "This forum allows us the opportunity to educate students on different medical fields, and our summer internship allows us to expand on this by providing experiences that are more hands-on."

Developed in 2004 by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and adopted in 2010 by NH Jacksonville, S2M2's mission is to encourage, nurture and enhance students' commitment to science and medicine in a welcoming and intellectually stimulating environment.

NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population--about 163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen and their families--about 84,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities.

To find out more or download NH Jacksonville's mobile app, visit the command website at www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.

For more news from Naval Hospital Jacksonville, visit www.navy.mil/.