On Friday, June 27, students at Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine spent the day guiding area high school students through the medical school and talking about what it’s like to be a med student. Called “Discovery Days: Pathways to Healthcare,” students in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at Campbell led demonstrations, answered questions and offered insight about their experiences as healthcare students.

Campbell students in the Physician Assistant, Nursing, Pharmacy and Physical Therapy took part in a question-and-answer session that afternoon.

The Campbell med students taught the high schoolers about stopping bleeds, tying knots and conducting an ultrasound. They led students through the simulation labs, where manikins simulate real patients experiencing myriad medical issues and medical stress. 

Potential future healthcare students and their parents spent the day learning about Campbell, the only osteopathic medical school in the state.

“The real value is that we offer something that a lot of other institutions don’t, which is contact with our medical students,” said Bob Schmid, assistant professor and director of operations for the Simulation Center, in a press release. “It’s a great opportunity for Discovery Day attendees to connect with students who are in the healthcare education programs now.”

A training session called “Stop the Bleed” gave high school students the opportunity to earn a certification in recognizing and treating situations involving a bleeding patient.

“It’s great,” said Amanda Lee, director of Simulation Education at Campbell, in a press release. “It gives our students the ability to share their knowledge through a teaching opportunity, and it gives the high school students the opportunity to get an inside look at what a career in medicine might entail.”

Med student Farhana Haque of Baltimore said the skills students gained in sessions such as “Stop the Bleed” are invaluable.

“It’s a really good introduction to medicine,” Haque said in a press release. “It’s a little bit heroic, and it’s also easy. It’s a good way of showing how capable you are of helping people. Somebody even as young as 16 can do this, and they can save lives. It’s immediately beneficial.”

Med student Seth Shearer of Tampa, Florida, said he would have appreciated attending an event like Discovery Day as he began navigating a career in healthcare years ago. 

“They get hands-on (experience),” he said in a press release. “They get to scrub in and get to explore what a surgery is like. I never got to do anything like that, especially in high school.”