The reaction was mixed inside Room 410 of Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Light Hall. Some of the 15 high school juniors and seniors participating in
Vanderbilt’s Young Medical Scholars Program (YSMP) smiled. Others squealed and gasped.
Lying neatly on dissecting trays were eight sheep’s hearts and lungs that resembled bloody sausages and smelled like a sixth-grade
science lab. While some chose not to participate, others dug in with the aid of
a scalpel and a physician. Armed with two layers of gloves, the students began
to dissect and identify parts of the heart including the left and right
ventricles and the pulmonary valves and arteries. Students were able to ask
questions like, “What’s the difference between the atrium and the ventricle?” “In which artery is plaque most likely to build up and cause a heart attack?” and simply, “What’s this?”
Despite that this anatomy class was scheduled on the last day, the students were
full of curiosity and interest that will carry with them long after the program
ends.
“The YSMP is a great program for high school students,” said Rachael Sarrett, a student at Merrol Hyde Magnet School. “It’s a way to get your feet wet in the medical world, get a taste of all the
different aspects of it, and find out exactly what you want to do.”
The Young Scholars Medical Program is a three-week journey through VMC that
gives the high school students the opportunity to meet and learn from some of
the nation’s best researchers, physicians and professors. This summer program exposes
students to the various layers that make up the hospital. They explore careers
that they may not have been aware of, by touring areas like LifeFlight, the
Emergency Department, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). They also
learn about many topics, from Global Health to Autism to Stem Cells.
Sheila Shanmugan, a Battleground Academy student, enjoyed the water aerobics
class at the Dayani Center as well as the Organ Recital. “I like that [examining the organs] was very hands-on. That’s what I like to do, not just hear about it.” Here, students met with resident Mandy O’Leary M.D., and Elizabeth Rinker, a medical student, to touch and examine human
organs. O’Leary explained her career as a pathologist and what it takes to get from being
a high school student to a becoming a certified pathologist. She captivated the
students by showing them a normal human kidney and then shocking them with a
kidney tumor, the size of a newborn. Not only a doctor, but also a raconteur,
she told the students how she and a team of doctors once removed a 50-pound
tumor from a patient who then survived. That, she said, is what makes her job
rewarding.
Another favorite activity of the students was shadowing a surgery. “The most memorable experience was definitely when we got to scrub in on an open
heart surgery. It was unbelievable because I was right there, a foot away,” explains Wilson Laine, a senior at Ensworth High School.
One experience that further sculpted the students’ future plans was meeting with the Admissions Board for Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine. They learned what to expect, the process of becoming a
doctor, and what the expectations were. Nurses and doctors who have gone
through the education process also gave advice and insight to the group. “I was a little scared when we talked to the admissions panel, but I still want
to pursue a medical career,” Laine said.
Each experience has helped the students discover their interests and potentially
find a field that interests them. For Shanmugan, it’s been a process of elimination. “Before YSMP, I knew I wanted to be a surgeon, but I didn’t know what kind and now, I know I don’t want to do something in trauma or burn.” Sarrett, on the other hand, claimed that touring the Burn and Trauma Unit was
one of her favorite activities. She says the program reinforced her decision to
become a doctor.
The participants said that YSMP clarifies students’ doubts about the medical field, exposes them to Vanderbilt, and gives them a
hands-on experience to learn more than a regular high school setting could not
offer.
“It gives you an experience to meet kids from other high schools in the area and
gives you those connections that you’ll need,” Sarrett said. This year’s group consisted of four Harpeth Hall students, three Hume-Fogg Academic
students, five students from Battleground Academy and one student each from
Ensworth High School, Merrol Hyde Magnet, as well as an exchange student from Lycée Marie Curie School in Sceaux Cedex, France.
“One of my friends, who did this program last year, always talked about how
amazing it was,” Shanmugan said. “Now I really know what she was talking about.”
