Scotland Memorial Hospital is training the next generation of doctors and nurses in its junior volunteer program.

The volunteers, ages 14 to 18, began this week after going through an orientation that was attended by 60 teens.

"They do anything from transporting patients to making up charts," Volunteer Coordinator Nancy Rogers said. "They work in outpatient registration, they work in the lab. They can be just runners for the department, answer phones... They just can't do anything to the patient."

The volunteers work in one of two 75-hour long sessions. The first began Monday and runs to July 2, the other is from July 14 to July 30. The volunteers work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays.

"It gives them their first insight on being mature and professional," Rogers said.

The students are required to act is if they are employed by the hospital, Rogers said. The hope is this program will inspire the volunteers to go into a medical field.

Rogers recognized Oshae Best, one of the returning volunteers, for being the model of what the other teens should do.

"He has been productive, ambitious, follows orders well," she said. "We have never had a junior before that has really pushed the limits before."

Best has completed more than 500 hours of service for the hospital, taking on extra work not normally designated to volunteers.

He was allowed to observe several surgeries with permission from the patients and was the top winner of the scholarships presented by the Hospital Auxiliary, which offers three scholarships for people looking to enter a medical field.

"I volunteer because I wanted more information about being in health care and working in a hospital," Best said.

He hopes to attend The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University after earning an undergraduate degree in chemistry and to eventually become a pediatrician.

"I think it (volunteering at the hospital) provides hands-on treatment and hands-on knowledge of what happens inside the hospital," Best said.

He recalled one of the doctors giving a piece of bone cement while he was observing a knee replacement surgery, along with some of the other tasks he performed as a volunteer.

Rogers said Best was named chief ambassador because of his experience and knowledge of the hospital.

"If you need a job done, call Oshae."