过去两周，大约40名中学生在 十大菠菜台子威廉博蒙特医学院 as part of a program aimed at raising student awareness about the multiple pathways to a career in medicine and health care.

由 底特律地区大学预科工程项目, the 医疗 Explorers program welcomed two groups of 20 each for four days of learning about anatomy and physiology of the human body through hands-on activities and face-to-face interaction.

大部分疗程都在 十大菠菜台子 campus in Rochester, though the 医疗 Explorers program also included a half-day field trip to the Moceri学习中心 at 特洛伊博蒙特医院.

This year marked the third year of the 医疗 Explorers program being held at OUWB.

Caryn Reed-Hendon, Ph.D.、导演、 OUWB多样性和包容性, said the school hosts the program because research shows that in the pre-teen and early-teen years, 学生开始对STEM失去兴趣.

在中学的时候, the time when being smart starts to be seen as not socially acceptable, the drop-off of interest in mathematics and science is staggering,里德-亨顿说, who noted she has a passion for connecting middle school students to opportunities in medicine.

“Partnering with DAPCEP allows us to show the students that not only is it acceptable to show off intelligence, 但它为未来的职业生涯提供了无数的选择. We are helping to set them up for academic success and social success in the near future.”

Those who helped lead sessions throughout the week were impressed by the questions the middle schoolers had about the medical field as well as their level of engagement.

“To me, it’s kind of fascinating how much kids know these days,” said Tyler Sargent, M2. “我只是惊讶于人们的兴趣增长了这么多.”

萨金特曾与格蕾丝·库默菲尔德共事, M2, 在博蒙特医院做耳鼻喉科的报告, 特洛伊, 医学探索者. 学生们学会了如何使用视网膜镜检查眼睛.

但他们也有很多问题.

“We were thinking we would have to get really good at distilling complicated information down to a level where they would be able to understand it, 但让我惊讶的是，他们已经知道了这么多,库默菲尔德说.

Kummerfeld said she believes much of the knowledge at a younger age stems from access to myriad sources via the internet.

“They hear these strange words and can go Google it now,” 她说. “Even at the middle school level they know so much more than I did when I was 12 years old.”

根据其网站, the mission of DAPCEP is “to increase the number of historically underrepresented students who are motivated and prepared academically to pursue degrees leading to careers in Science, 技术, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields through K-12 supplemental educational programming.”

医疗 Explorers是DAPCEP提供的众多其他产品之一. Other offerings cover topics ranging from coding and engineering to car design and math and physics in engineering (also held at 十大菠菜台子).

Ms. 安吉尔已经为DAPCEP做了10年的监护人. 她的儿子们很小的时候就参加了这个项目. 其中一个现在是医生.

“DAPCEP只是种下了种子，”她说. “A child might hear something that sparks interest in whatever field they end up pursuing, 现在让他们参与进来很重要, 这样他们就可以开始准备了.”

Ms. Angel said kids who take part in DAPCEP often participate in other summer camps and are naturally curious. They also tend to have parents who promote exploration of various career fields. 出于这些原因, 她说, it isn’t surprising to her that the students have so many solid questions for those experts leading sessions throughout the week.

During the neuroscience session, Foundational 医疗 Studies Associate Professor Gustavo Patino, M.D., Ph.D., was impressed when students asked questions about the autism spectrum disorder. One student asked what Patino considers to be an upper-level philosophical question about the benefits of keeping a person alive when they are considered brain dead.

博蒙特实地考察

在博蒙特医院的莫切里学习中心, 特洛伊, DAPCEP participants took part in three hands-on learning experiences: ENT, 血压, 还有一个模拟实验室.

In the simulation lab, questions included: “Is it OK to cry when you’re a nurse or a doctor?”; “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?”; “How can you sleep after you watch someone die?”; and “What’s the smallest baby you’ve ever seen?”

约翰·弗雷兹，R.N., 特洛伊博蒙特医院, was working with the kids in the simulation lab. Freds said he recognized the kind of curiosity shown by the DAPCEP kids because he was the same way when he was younger.

的区别, 他说, was that he didn’t have exposure to anything like the simulation lab until he was training to become a nurse.

“我喜欢这里有孩子，”弗雷兹说. “我喜欢向他们展示我们的工作. 我喜欢激发他们的兴趣, maybe help them think about things they want to do in the future.”

That’s exactly what happened to Kyle Gavulic, a past participant in the 牛津大学夏季研究机会计划 和 OUWB未来医师暑期充实计划.

现在是医学预科的本科生 范德比尔特大学, Gavulic said his involvement in exploratory programs at a younger age helped him realize that he wanted to become a doctor. He shared his story with the DAPCEP 医疗 Explorers during a session on career exploration and college prep.

“It’s really great that they’re given this opportunity to explore and think about different things,gavullic说. “I know that when I was in middle school exploration was a big thing for me, 但我从未有过这样的发泄方式. 我认为这非常重要.” 

就像其他照顾孩子们的人一样, Gavulic was impressed by their level of knowledge and engagement at such a young age.

“这真的令人印象深刻，”他说. “Some of them definitely have thought a lot about this before getting here and I’m amazed at how much they’re getting involved in some of these different activities.”