HMS program gives high school students close-up view of patient care
The patient came in complaining of stomach pains. She was clearly in distress, and nervous, but alert. The team of doctors around her bed calmly and quickly got to work. One took her hand and assured her they would get to the bottom of her pain. Another began a physical examination. Another asked about her family history, her lifestyle, and what she’d recently eaten. It was chaotic, as all emergency rooms are, but the chaos was controlled, and had the feel of a well-oiled machine. Just six weeks earlier, the same group stood uneasily around a different patient — this one complaining of difficulty breathing. The only sounds were the beeping of a heart monitor, the patient’s labored breathing, and awkward, confused, and nervous laughter from her attendants. The thing is, these “doctors” weren’t actual doctors, but students from the Urban Science Academy, an open and inclusive STEM (science, technology,...