- College of Medicine Students
Middle schooler Ali Khadraoui chuckled as he pressed on the mannequin’s stomach. “Are you in pain?” he asked. Much to his surprise, the mannequin’s computerized voice replied, “No.” Ali’s eyes widened and he grinned broadly.
At the College of Medicine’s Clinical Skills and Simulation Center March 7, Ali and classmates from Osceola County’s Horizon Middle School learned what it’s like to be health professional. The day-long event was part of the college’s Health Explorers Program, designed to provide mentorship, skills training and networking to underserved students to inspire them to enter science and medicine.
Ali and his classmates saw the computerized mannequin mimic symptoms and react to physical examination. They used an ophthalmoscope, listened to the vibrations of a tuning fork and examined models of the eyeball and inner ear. They also toured the college’s Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, which is 98 percent digital, and heard from medical students about their own path to medical school.
“They are a joy to be around,” said first-year medical student Gabriel Williams, who accompanied the young scientists. “To see them so excited and have exposure to medical school before college.”