Local high school students contemplating a career in medicine recently had a sneak peek at the field during a full-day event hosted by the Med Mentors Student Interest Group at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

About 60 students from five area high schools – Essex High School, Rock Point School, South Burlington High School, Mount Mansfield Union, Champlain Valley Union, and Winooski High School – visited campus April 4 to get acquainted with what it’s like to be a medical student, as well as learn more about the path to becoming a physician.

“We want to be more involved with high school students,” says Ethan Harlow ’18, a leader of the student interest group. Med Mentors’ goal is to expose high school students to medicine as a career path, as well as lay a foundation for longer-term mentoring relationships.

This is the second Med Mentors event this year; the group also hosted a full-day gathering in the fall. Harlow says is the students aim to continue to hold twice-yearly events, but also want to grow the mentoring component of the program to include additional small-group or one-on-one pairings between medical and high school students. It’s a longer-term plan, says Harlow, but one that the group’s members agree is important.

According to the group’s vision statement, “We envision developing a complete mentorship program . . .  something that does not currently exist in the community, that will engender knowledge, insight, and excitement in our students about healthcare professions.”

As a move towards that goal, the April 4 event delivered a thorough introduction to the healthcare field with activities from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., under the guidance of a team of student leaders including Harlow, Gayathri Prabhakar ‘18, Brianna Spencer ‘18, and Kathleen Olson ‘18.

The day kicked off with an introduction to clinical skills from UVM Associate Professor of Medicine Alan Rubin, M.D., which was also the “first session we had as medical students,” Harlow points out. Different student interest groups led a series of workshops on topics including medical ethics, and basic doctoring skills like heart, lung and ear, nose and throat exams. Students had the opportunity to try out suturing – with bananas as their “patients” – with guidance from the Surgery Student Interest Group. They also had the chance to make a splint and learn other aspects of wilderness medicine with members of the Wilderness Medicine Student Interest Group.

The afternoon featured a visit to the pathology lab to learn about various human organs and the pathology of different diseases, with UVM Assistant Professor of Pathology Rebecca Wilcox, M.D. Students also toured the UVM/UVM Medical Center Clinical Simulation Lab, and as a culmination of their day as “physicians,” they tried out their interviewing skills with medical students serving as their “patients.”    

“I particularly enjoyed spending time with the students in the pathology lab,” says Gayathri Prabhakar ’18. “It was really inspiring and exciting for me as a medical student to watch their amazement and excitement at getting the chance to hold organs and answer questions that a physician was asking them. I hope the event got the students excited about science and medicine, and also showed them that there are many paths in the health profession, and many different ways they can be a health care provider.”

As Med Mentors continues to evolve, Harlow believes that the group stands to serve as a resource for younger students no matter what they decide to do with their lives.

“We’re a bunch of highly motivated people,” says Harlow, “and we can help inspire the students to pursue any career they want.”