ALTON - Alton Middle School students have a new opportunity to start training in the medical field.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
New this year, the middle school is offering a class called Medical Detectives that will allow students to study diseases and simulate diagnosing patients while using real medical equipment. The class is part of Project Lead the Way, which encourages students to think about their career options.
“It’s still early in the semester, but I have high hopes for it,” said teacher Ariya Barrington.
Barrington is eager to teach the semester-long course. In these first few weeks, students will learn about vitals and diagnose patients on paper using their vitals information. The semester will progress through the body systems and ask students to diagnose using information they have learned about each system.
They will dissect a brain in the second half of the semester, which Barrington is looking forward to. The final project will invite administrators to come into the classroom as “patients” so students can interview them, diagnose them, and track down which patient had the first onset of symptoms.
Students will use real medical equipment like stethoscopes, pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs, microscopes and more. These tools have been provided through a $5,000 donation from Liberty Bank.
Alton Middle School Principal Dr. Brian Saenz noted that the district introduced the class after surveying students and finding that many expressed an interest in the medical field.
A few middle school classes funnel into high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses. This Medical Detectives class is the newest addition to the Project Lead the Way program.
“We’re trying to align what we’re doing at the middle school with what the high school is doing with CTE,” Saenz said.
The aim is to help students think about their career goals and try out different fields to determine if they would like to pursue these careers. He noted it’s common for students to change their minds or try different paths before they find the right career for them. If they can make these adjustments earlier, Saenz argued, they will save time and money in the long run.
“As adults, we know a lot of people historically have spent time in fields and classes moving in a direction that they really didn’t end up in ultimately,” he said. “For them to have some insight, some knowledge about what those different paths may entail, it will help to get on the right path sooner so they can get into the space that they want to be instead of jumping around. We know how expensive it can be in college when you start changing majors.”
Barrington and Saenz hope many students benefit from the Medical Detectives class, and they look forward to seeing how students adjust their career goals after taking the class.
This featured article is sponsored by Alton Community Unit School District #11. To get your business or organization featured on www.RiverBender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.
