Scholars Performing Surgery?
On Tuesday, July 14, journalists from the GSPost arrived at the Healthcare Industries focus area to interview the teacher and students. They were questioned about their experiences both at GSP and in their focus area.
Piercy, the instructor, explained that the main focus of the Healthcare Industries class is the topic of narrative medicine and “the idea that we are made up of stories”. He has used the topic of narrative medicine as a central piece that allows the class to branch off onto other topics like pediatrics and surgery. Piercy also has a diverse background in the medical field, getting to bring “a perspective that a lot of people don’t have”. And although it is only his first year at GSP, he said that “getting the opportunity to teach healthcare has been really great”.
Scholars Ava, Julia, Tyson, and Matthew were all interviewed about what their focus area experience was like. This class has introduced scholars to specialties they may not want to pursue once in the healthcare industry. Currently, healthcare students are learning about working with kids and other experiences doctors have had in the specific field of pediatrics. Being able to learn about different healthcare disciplines has swayed students’ perception of certain fields, with Matthew saying that he would not be interested in pediatrics and Tyson saying the opposite.
Scholars also went on a so-called “field trip”, where the local Area Health Education Center Cooperative (AHECC) came to Murray State, and had the opportunity to watch a live Laparoscopic Gallbladder Removal. Ava and Tyson noted that this was one of their favorite activities because they were able to do sterile gloving and gowning. Julia said that her favorite activity occurred on the same day, practicing sutures with laparoscopic tools. Matthew’s favorite activity was the intubation practice on the plastic dolls because it felt like a real scenario.
Tyson explained that the “conversations are crazy”, but it’s still really cool to learn about stories from Piercy and all of the different things that he experienced during his residency. Words like eccentric, inspiring, honest, and enlightening were used by scholars to describe their experience in the healthcare focus area. And they also all agreed that Piercy was an amazing teacher and he has made their experience 10 times better than they expected.
In conclusion, the Healthcare Industries focus area has been a big hit with all of the scholars involved. For most, it was their first choice as a focus area and they do not regret it at all. Almost all of the students want to go into the medical pathway after high school, so this class has been a good starting point for everyone.
