Health, science, math and literature sounds like subjects for school rather than summer break n however, for 34 fortunate fifth and six grade students from throughout the St. Louis area, a hands-on primer on what its like to study and research like a scientist or a doctor may have been a three-week summer investment into a rewarding career to come.
The Brain Link is part of the Multicultural Initiative for New Doctors or MIND program at Saint Louis University. It gives qualified elementary students from St. Louis City and County an opportunity to encounter new avenues of learning using an interdisciplinary approach to promote science literacy and good health practices.
Brain Link participants are required to have an interest in pursing medical careers. During the most recent program, children studied the brain and central nervous system, learned from SLU neurologists and built models of the brain.
Perhaps the highlight came when kids were able to pair up, put gloves on and take membranes off n dissecting sheep brains.
“You hold it like this n look at the monitors,” Program Director Ray Vollmer told the youngsters nwho were either staring in his face or staring at their scalpels.
“Remember you guys n you only want to remove that outer skin.”
Using precision instruments to dissect sheep brains can make even the most eager student a bit squeamish.
“I’m trying to be careful so I don’t kill the brain,” one young boy explained away his slow, unsteady hands to his impatient partner who wanted his time with the knife.
Actually it was the dura mater he was trying not to “kill.” It is the tough, inflexible and outermost layer of membrane surrounding the brain.
“You also want to remove that part from the cerebellum, but don’t cut the cerebellum off,” Vollmer instructed.
Now it is getting a little tricky for the young trainee pathologists. Not just one cut, but three.
“It stinks,” one girl announced.
“How about these pieces over here?” her partner asked, whose curiosity distracted her from what she was supposed to be observing.
Just as quickly as they began to look at the parts of the brain, science class turned into anatomy class.
“There is no part of your body that depends on a steady supply of oxygen like your brain does,” Vollmer said.
Two boys looked at each other as if they were amazed and had never thought about that one.
“There are four big arteries that go here,” Vollmer pointed to on the video monitors at each workstation.
“Your pulse is your heart beating and pulsing blood through your body. See that red thing there? And that red thing there? These are your carotid arteries and they send blood directly to your brain,” Vollmer explained.
Most kids looked more engaged than grossed-out during their brainy lesson.
“Has anyone heard of an aneurysm?” Vollmer asked.
A few undecided hands came up n partially.
“Unfortunately, a stroke occurs when one of those arteries break.” Vollmer explained as he slipped in a quick health and anti-drug pitch.
“When you don’t eat a healthy diet, smoke, don’t exercise, you’re especially prone to stroke, and using drugs, especially drugs that elevate the heart rate n cocaine, meth, ecstasy…”
Now back to uncovering the linings of the sheep brains.
“The second meningeal layer is called the arachnoid. It has a shiny surface, like a spider web,” Vollmer said. “You have to have the touch of a surgeon right now to get it right, so be very careful.”
A hush fell over an already relatively quiet room.
The touch of a surgeon n that’s the ticket. Now the scalpels are moving ever so gingerly.
“What type of fluid flows through the arachnoids,” he asked in a pop verbal quiz.
“Cerebral spinal fluid n remember? That cerebral spinal fluid is contained by the arachnoid.”
Most students were busy trying to think while focusing on lifting the arachnoid off the fist-sized brain with their instruments.
“Each part of your human brain performs certain specific tasks,” Vollmer said.
“There’s a hole in bottom of your skull where the spinal cord goes through.”
On the monitor, Vollmer showed the kids the ridge in the brain that controls movement.
“You know another cool thing about the frontal lobe? A lot of your personality comes from here.”
Certified public school teachers provided daily enrichment instruction in math, language arts and in the science of the brain. The Brain Link curriculum correlates to several Missouri “Show Me Standards” taught in public schools in the areas of science and health
“Longitudinally we track the students to find out whether they went on to high school and finished; where they went to college and what they did with the rest of their life,” said Fredrick Hamilton, associate project director, SLU Multicultural Initiative for New Doctors.
Children also met with doctors who talked about their own experiences in medical school and residency programs. On the last day of the program, students received a special phone call from world-renowned neurosurgeon n Dr. Ben Carson, Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.
The learning doesn’t have to stop at the end of the three weeks. MIND has separate Brain Link modules for fifth and sixth grades, and the MASH module for seventh and eighth grades. For high school students, SLU offers a High School Summer Enrichment and Summer Research Apprenticeships.
“They can spend a total of four years in the Brain Link/MASH option” Hamilton said. “In seven years (of Brain Link), we know students do go on to finish high school for the most part. We’ve got some success stories of students who started in the Brain Link program and are now students in college, including Saint Louis University.”
Hamilton said participating students do not have to be A and B students, but be capable of grasping the material and have a possible desire to pursue a medical career.
For more information, contact Fredrick Hamilton in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at SLU at 877-7564.
