It looked like a scene out of a medical school textbook. Young scientists, clad in blue smocks and face masks, stood at metal dissecting tables, probing the systems of the human cadavers that lay before them.
A closer look, however, revealed one key difference. These budding young scientists were not medical school students. They were juniors and seniors in high school participating in the Saturday Scholars Program.
Shirley Brown of St. Louis Public Schools, one of the program’s founders some two decades ago, explained the intense learning process that the students undergo.
“Led by Washington University medical students, under the direction of Dr. Will Ross, on four successive Saturday mornings the students are guided through a first-hand investigation of the human anatomy,” Brown said.
“I am just so pleased that it affords young people options in the medical professions that they would not otherwise have.”
The program, which is a the result of a collaboration between the St. Louis Public Schools Office of Community Based Resources and Washington University’s Office of Diversity Programs, is designed to support the public schools’ advanced biology and anatomy curricula. The students are also given the opportunity to investigate career possibilities in the field of medicine.
On four successive Saturday mornings, three selected high school students from ten city public schools and three county schools, guided by Washington University School of Medicine students, explore the various anatomical features of a human cadaver. The respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, and reproductive systems are highlighted.
Additionally, the students form groups and utilize their acquired knowledge and skills from three health classes to find information relevant to a pathogen of their choice. Each group researched their pathogen and presented their findings in the form of a five-minute PowerPoint presentation. The program culminated this past Saturday with an awards luncheon hosted by Washington University School of Medicine.
“The partnership is phenomenal,” said Dr. Lynn Spampinato, chief academic officer for the St. Louis Public Schools.
“Students get the opportunity to examine future careers, and they have the experience of conducting research. It is helping to produce the future doctors of America.”
Dr. Ross, who was recently honored for his community service contributions to the university, has facilitated the anatomical exploration for the past decade.
“When I established the office of diversity programs, at that time the program was not being funded well and the collaboration was not as strong,” Dr. Ross said.
“I felt that an institution of this caliber, Washington University, had to have some relationship with the community and had to actually provide some resources for the students who normally would not have had access to the high technology and resources that are available at the medical school.”
“The program gives students insight on how science and math relate to the real world,” said Ron Jackson, vice-president of the district’s board of education.
“The Saturday Scholars program is a tremendous opportunity to give young people in the public schools first-hand knowledge, understanding and relationships.”
During the first phase of the program, which took place in February, the students participate in a medicine and anatomy health professions fair. In the final phase, which will take place in April, the science students will visit the School of Medicine at the University of MissourinColumbia, where they will tour the medical facility, interact with students and faculty and participate in a computer multimedia workshop.
“I got a lot of knowledge that I would not have gotten in the class room,” said Rickey Latham, a junior at Sumner High School who participated in the program.
“It was shocking at first, but then I took it and ran with it. Now it makes me think about going into the medical field.”
