TTUHSC School of Medicine Students Host Docs for a Day Minicamp

Estacado’s Early College High School Students Learn About Paths to Medical Careers

• By Kay Williams
• May 16, 2023
• Education

Screening for and diagnosing illnesses, injuries and other medical conditions was all in a day’s work for some high school students in Lubbock. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s (TTUHSC) Student National Medical Association (SNMA) hosted Estacado Early College High School (EECHS) students at the Docs for a Day Minicamp Thursday (May 4) which included a wide range of clinical simulations.

The mission of the youth outreach activity was to inspire and inform the EECHS students by giving them a first-hand perspective into what medical students experience on the path to becoming healthcare professionals.

TTUHSC SNMA Community Outreach Co-chair Angelica Nibo said, “The goals of the event are to expose the students to the career of medicine, and also to teach them hands-on clinical skills, and to show them that there are medical students and doctors who look like them.”

In the TTUHSC F. Marie Hall SimLife Center, the high school students role-played and interacted with patient simulation manikins in a variety of medical scenarios. The students used basic health screening tools and ultrasound equipment to learn how they are used by physicians and other medical professionals.

“It's really incredible to see people doing the things that we want to do in the future,” EECHS student Helena Siakam said. “They are showing you how to do it when you get there and it's pretty interesting. I love it.”

Nibo said the insights offered through this event benefit students of all backgrounds. “They can see what it's going to be like to go from high school to the next steps and then into being a beginning medical student. So, it's nice for them to be able to talk directly with us and see the challenges that we've gone through and learn from us.”

EECHS student Moses Stephenson said the Docs for a Day experience reinforced that his interests in sports medicine and athletic training could develop into a career. “It influenced my decision. And it kind of encouraged me to want to actually go into medicine.”  

TTUHSC SNMA president Destiny Ugwa said SNMA is dedicated to ensuring medical education and health care are culturally sensitive to the needs of diverse populations, and to increasing the number of students of color entering and completing medical school.

She said she hopes all the high school students involved in the minicamp take away the message that they can pursue a career in medicine, too. “It's open to anybody. And you know, the sky's the limit,” Ugwa said.