Course nurtures high school students’ interest in health careers

Junior and senior high school students interested in careers in medicine, dentistry, or the biological sciences are taking part in an eight-week program designed to encourage that interest.

Now in its 10th year, High School Mini Medical/Dental School includes weekly two-hour lectures and demonstrations by faculty from the UConn schools of medicine and dental medicine.

“Students attending the program have already expressed an interest in a health-related career,” says Dr. Marja Hurley, associate dean and director of the Office of Health Career Opportunity Programs that sponsors the course.

“What we strive to do is nurture and expand that interest.”

The students learn about such topics as emergency psychiatry, pharmacology, molecular disease, immunology, neurology, cancer, and forensic dental medicine.

“Most of the students may not know the details of these professions,” says Dr. Sarita Arteaga in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, who lectures on dental reconstructive options.

“These types of lectures will help them make future decisions. This age group has an interest, and the program helps them stay focused on their goals.”

Victor Gonzalez, a student at the Arts Magnet School in Waterbury, says he loved the program.

“I’d like to be a cardiologist,” he says.

“I was iffy before.”

Farmington High School student Ali Uzpurvis says the lectures were so interesting, she’s now at a loss.

“After all these classes it’s even harder to choose. They didn’t narrow down my choices, but made them wider.”

Dr. David Papermaster of the Department of Neuroscience, who talked about his research related to blindness, says students appreciate seeing the relevance of their science education in high school to the advances in medical research.