Biology students in Ms. Smith’s class performed a medical school training activity. Here’s what Brooke Louisa’26 said:

Miss Smith’s biology lab made learning tons fun for many kids and may help them in the future. As someone who wants to become a doctor, it helped me start to think about my future. During this lab, we took the roles of both medical staff and patients. It both reinforced my idea of what I want to do in the future and presented some of the difficulties the career path brought me. I enjoyed identifying the diseases my patients had, and seeing what actual doctors go through on a day-to-day basis was incredible to see. For example, I diagnosed patients who were deeply ill and was able to help them feel better. Acting as a doctor taught me more than I thought it could in just an hour of class.

This lab also brought out everyone’s personality. In my opinion, the best doctor asked incredibly detailed questions to help figure out what the patient was struggling with. If the patient was too young to know what was wrong, he would rephrase the question in a way they would understand. There were also some funny doctors who cracked jokes to distract patients from their pain or illness. Being a patient was also a great learning experience. It helped put me into the perspective of what clients would go through if they were actually struggling with the illness I was assigned. There were also some excellent examples of real world situations. For example, I acted as a four-year-old girl who had no idea what was wrong with her. This acting was not only informative but also interesting. One person also played an excellent patient. It almost seemed like he was genuinely in pain, making the whole situation seem real. He answered all questions asked of him in a way that helped the doctors effectively diagnose and treat him. If I were really a doctor, I would want all my patients to be as helpful as he was.

The disease that I was assigned was Shigellosis. This disease is most common in young children and is caused by waterborne infection. It can be contracted from ponds, lakes, brooks, rivers, or any body of water contaminated with bacteria. Children with weaker immune systems are at an increased risk. To help cure this disease, patients must be sure to keep up with their personal hygiene. If not taken care of properly, people diagnosed with Shigellosis can be hospitalized or even placed in the Intensive Care Unit.

This lab was by far my favorite of all the ones we’ve done. I feel that it has been the most informative, and the fun and relaxed nature of it helped the students truly learn from it. If I could pick any of the labs we’ve done to do again, it would definitely be this one! I think it has truly solidified my aspiration to become a family medicine physician.