Two Senior School students are delivering initiatives which provide their peers with hands-on experience in the practice of medicine.
Med-e-Sim – a programme which provides Year 10 to 12 students with hands-on simulated medical experience in a hospital – was initiated by Year 11 student Hugo Bogdan and a family friend from PLC, this year.
“I’m interested in studying medicine and wanted to gain some work experience in the area,” says Hugo. “Despite coming from a medical family, it was hard to find. I really had to create my own opportunity. It made me think about how difficult it must be for people without my connections, so I thought it only fair to try to provide an experience which could include other students as well as me.”
Hugo and his friend successfully approached the Head of the Simulation Centre in the Royal Melbourne Hospital with a proposed strategy and programme. They promoted the event within their respective schools, with a resultant 12 students from each school participating in the initative.
The day included a visit to the hospital’s emergency and intensive care units, practical workshops (including using dummies to learn suturing and how to insert an IV) and a Q & A session with doctors, residents, and medical students.
“One of the most enjoyable activities was working with a simulation bot called Chester,” explains Hugo. “We asked him questions and took his blood in order to diagnose his condition. Unfortunately for Chester, he was diagnosed with impending heart attack.”
Participant and Year 11 student Will Saba adds, “The Med-e-Sim programme gave me a valuable insight into what doctors face on a daily basis. We were able to access areas that normally aren’t available to high school students.”
“The hospital has been very supportive, and our base model worked well,” says Hugo. “We hope to expand Med-e-Sim to other schools in the future.”
Pravind Easwaran, Year 12, has also played a key role in developing a new initiative aimed at prospective research scientists. He has been instrumental in organising MYSci, a new programme to be delivered by Monash University in collaboration with The Young Scientists of Australia, Melbourne (YSA). Over three days, research scientists will provide insights into their disciplines through workshops and other activities.
“There are quite a few programmes for students in Year 9 and 10,” says Pravind. “This programme is aimed at older students who are interested in exploring potential careers in scientific research and related areas in more depth.”
Pravind has been a member of YSA since Year 9 and currently sits on their Executive Committee. Incidentally, the President of the Committee is James Salamy (OM 2012).
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