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High School Anatomy Class Visits UNMC

Students Explore Career Opportunities & Medical Innovations

by WHS Science Instructor Steve Shannon on March 26, 2010

Mr. Shannon’s Anatomy students traveled to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) on March 25, 2010 to learn more about the career opportunities available at UNMC, as well as to be exposed to the latest medical innovations and breakthroughs.

The students first traveled to the Clarkson Tower to meet Megan Novero, a critical care nurse, to learn about the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber program and their use in patient treatment. The hyperbaric chambers are used to help diffuse more oxygen into the blood plasma of damaged tissues to help patients recover from a variety of ailments such as the side effects from cancer radiation treatments. We were able to watch patients that were undergoing the treatments and learn about the safety measures that are taken to ensure the safety of the patients in such an oxygen-rich environment.

Next, the students traveled through the tunnels and buildings to the brand new Sorrell Center to meet Jessica Tschirren, who talked about the newly developed Public Health graduate program at UNMC. The students were introduced to the different concepts that fall under the heading of Public Health, such as clean drinking water and virology.

The students then traveled to the Lied Transplant Center to talk with Becky Johnson, an instructor at the Transplant Center, who discussed the Donate Life Services program, which helps spread the word of the importance of organ donation. Students were able to see patients whose lives were saved due to organ donations, and were able to view actual organs that were harvested and discuss their viability for use in patients on the transplant list.

Finally, the students went to the College of Pharmacy to meet Dr. Charles Krobot, the head of the pharmacy department, and were taught how pharmacists mix medicine into forms that can be better consumed by patients who may not be able to take pills or tablets. The students used frosting and food coloring to simulate mixing the medicine in with the substrate to make a paste that could be easily consumed by patients.

Overall, the trip to UNMC was extremely informative and helped the students learn more about the dedication and commitment it takes to become a medical professional.