Nearly three dozen local students participated in the two-week summer program organized by the Physician Assistant Studies program.
During the summer, 35 elementary, middle and high school students from Alamance-Burlington School System enrolled in Start Early in Medicine, an initiative of the Village Project that resides in the Physician Assistant Studies program in Elon’s School of Health Sciences.
Start Early in Medicine promotes interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and highlights the intimate relationship between those fields and medicine during the two-week summer program.
The participants utilized the Elon Maker Hub to learn about 3D medical modeling, and to create projects of their own. Among the projects the students created were a pulse oximeter, which is a medical instrument used to assess oxygen saturation, and an anatomical heart.
The heart was in many ways the true theme of the program. This critical organ was the focus of classes in subjects such as anatomy and physiology but was also the foundation for the participants to learn – and think – about what makes a medical professional stellar.
The heart’s centrality and the hard work the participants undertook was on show at well-attended closing ceremonies for the participants, their parents, community partners and current and former leadership of The Village Project. The participants presented artistic sculptures of the anatomical heart accompanied by thematic content dealing with “heart” characteristics, such as integrity and courage — elements that clinicians need to help patients and to be their best.