Western University of Health Sciences students from the Pediatric Interest Group hosted about 40 children – who were mostly kindergarten students – for the school’s inaugural Mini-Medical School.
Kindergarteners learned about the human body and medicine at the event held on WesternU’s Pomona campus, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Four stations were taught by WesternU students:
- Bone Station (Looking at bones and X-Rays)
- Heart and Pulse Station (Learning how to take a pulse and listening to hearts)
- Hand Hygiene Station (Teaching how to properly wash hands)
- Mini Operating Room (Learning about different organs in the body)
Second-year College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) student and outreach coordinator for the Pediatric Interest Group Paul Cho said the group got the idea from COMP-Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon, which has been doing it for eight years.
“The Pediatric Interest Group wanted to start Mini-Medical School so that kindergartners could become more excited about medicine and science,” Cho said. “Our hope is to give these young students an opportunity to see what it’s like to be a medical student. We believe that if you give these kids a vision at an early age, then they can become more motivated in their studies and work harder to achieve their goals.”
Pomona Health Career Ladder under WesternU Strategic Alliances provided assistance and resources for Mini-Medical School.