DontSignUpForOutset
Underdeveloped program without any real educational value
My son attended the Anesthesia program at UNC. Unfortunately, it was not as described. I also question all the rave 5 star reviews from Feb and March 2025- I suspect those were generated, fake reviews to lure parents looking for camps and planning for the summer. Real participant reviews (like this one) are filled out 1 week after the program ends. This program might be suitable for teens without any family, friends or contacts in any aspect of medicine to hear how to apply for med school and what various careers are like. You can really find ALL that info online. Or, if you know anyone in medicine- have your kid talk to them for 15 min, and you'll get as much useful content as spending money on this camp. As for actual learning of any pharmacology, physiology, research- there was none of that. Don't be fooled by the application process- it's NOT an academic or merit based camp. My son was not intellectually stimulated at all. He sutured a little and intubated a dummy- I think that's all he got out of it. Furthermore- the leadership is obviously new in how it handles the participants. There's a free bus that is convenient to use on UNC campus- instead of having the teens take that, they wasted much of the day walking in 90+ degree weather. Well run, experienced camps and people in the know would just have parents sign a waiver and have the teens get around that way! This camp sounds good on the website, but needs much more work; currently has extremely little real content. It's amateur hour when it comes to the logistics. The counselors were all disgruntled and complaining to the participants about how their hrs were longer than advertised, and how they were getting paid too little. All in all, a huge disappointment. Maybe under different leadership it'll be better in 10 years- right now it's too new of a program, and it definitely shows.
Response from OutsetJul 29, 2025
Hi there! This is Lawson Kuehnert, the Executive Director and Founder of Outset. First of all, thank you for sharing your concerns about our program. We value feedback and are always hoping to improve. I would like to address a few of your concerns and points quickly: None of our reviews are fake, and if you look at our reviews you will notice most all of our 5-star review are from June and July which is when our programs are operating. We are sorry that your student did not receive the experience that they wanted from Outset. We do not promise to cover pharmacology, physiology, or research on our website or in any of our materials, so that is not what we advertise. Our programs focus on preparing students for pre-med and also providing access to hands-on activities, simulations, and speakers who are real physicians in careers of interest to our students. As for your comment about our leadership, we disagree with your assessment. Our leadership team is highly experience at UNC with almost five decades of camp management experience between our three main leadership staff. The free bus you are speaking about is unfortunately not available to us because the bus schedule is variable, it does not fit all our students, and the bus routes do not go to all of the places on campus where we go. Our students do have to walk to class and the dining hall which is how all UNC students actually get around campus (very few take the bus). I strongly disagree with your assessment that the camp has extremely little content. Our days are packed with very useful college and medical school information and access to simulations and activities typically only available to medical school students or residents. (See the majority of our other reviews). Finally, I think it is very misleading to say our camp is "amateur hour". In fact, most college campus leadership we work with across the United States (including at UNC) are highly impressed by our organization and schedule and tell us we are the best and most organized academic camp they work with. Again, we are very sorry the camp did not meet your expectations. The vast majority of our students have an excellent, deeply enriching experience at Outset. If you would like to share additional feedback or thoughts privately, I encourage you to reach out to myself or Alicia, our UNC Camp Director. You have our email contact information, so please reach out anytime. Thank you!