As senior year comes to a close, I have been so excited for what the future holds for me, but I still look back in fondness at the 15 years I have spent at St. Lukes. One of the greatest highlights of these years were the last three years in which I participated in the Biomedical Sciences Program. The experiences and knowledge that I have gained from this program will last me a lifetime and certainly will serve me well in my future career.
I always knew that I wanted to be a part of the Biomed Program. I used to get so excited when the older students came to speak with our classes on the lower campus. I was so excited I asked the older kids when I could join Biomed on the day of the fifth grade class preview. I was certainly saddened to hear that I had to wait until the tenth grade to join, though. Those years flew by, and soon enough, I was starting in the Fundamentals course. I had a great time with this course. One of my favorite memories from Fundamentals was visiting the Mobile Medical Museum (I actually got to talk about this in my Azalea Trail Interview!). I enjoyed starting on this because it really helped me understand how far we’ve come in medicine both in our community and globally. Another highlight from my first year in Biomed would definitely be Trauma Week. That is no surprise, as Trauma Week has been my favorite experience every year and what inspired me to choose Emergency Medicine as my field of interest for Interventions. My favorite Trauma Week was this past year with the chemical explosion. As I stated in this presentation, I really enjoyed Alicia Litner’s presentation about acute burn care. I also enjoyed getting to learn from Dr. Slauterbeck in 2022 as well, though!
Fundamentals II is when I felt that Biomed really began to ramp up for me. I was more comfortable with the class, and I think we had some very interesting guest speakers. I met my future mentor, Mr. Edmondson when he came to speak to our class about sutures. I also enjoyed learning about Radiology from Dr. Gupta. I also really enjoyed touring the Coast Guard facilities and learning about what the military has to offer for individuals in the medical field. It is certainly a path I may consider in the future.
The absolute highlight of my time in the Biomed Program was definitely the Interventions course. This class has made me so confident to go into college and has opened doors for my future. Touring Spring Hill made me realize that I could see myself attending that college when I had already kind of ruled it out in my head. Now, I am so happy with my decision to be a Badger. My future professors are all familiar with the Biomed Program, too. One of them even came to my presentation, and we had a great conversation afterwards! I believe that being in Biomed was a large part of my selection for the Pre-Medical Sciences Program. Although I hated it, my blog was very helpful in this process as well. Past me would be furious at this new opinion, but I actually think that our Fundamentals classes should have to blog more. The paper was quite daunting, but I really enjoyed it actually. I think we did so much pre-writing that it went very smoothly. The presentation, on the other hand, was very difficult. I am grateful for all the times we had to practice it because that was the scariest assignment I have ever completed. I do believe that I learned a lot about public speaking because of it. I do think I need more practice on that, though. Another highlight of this year was the Mass Casualty Drill. This was such a fun day, and I was glad to be a part of such a wonderful learning experience. My job shadows were also so much fun, largely because of how amazing Mr. Edmondson is. This class certainly made me accountable for keeping up with all of my work and not procrastinating. I definitely got better at this as the year went along.
I loved this program, but there are a few things I would like to change. I think that the Fundamentals classes should be a little more difficult. The change from Fundamentals to Interventions was truly a culture shock. I think we had a lot of “free days” in Fundamentals that we could have spent doing some sort of independent study work similar to in Interventions. I also feel that because of Covid, our class got a few less experiences and labs, which I understand is outside of your control! I do wish we would have done more labs in Fundamentals, though. I also think the classes should do more outreach with the lower campus. I remember absolutely loving it when the big kids came to our campus when I was little. My little brother would certainly love it now, as well.
The Biomed program has fostered a true love for learning about medicine and has made me confident in my career goals. Biomed has made me smile, laugh, pass out, and cry. If I could do it all over again, I would still choose to take this class. I am certainly going to miss Biomed and St. Luke’s, but I am excited for what the future holds.