In September, Honors students were extended an invitation from OU Health Sciences Center Provot Gary Raskob to tour the Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. This event was part of the Student-to-Professional Mentoring Experience (STPMX) that the Honors College offers to all junior and senior undergraduates.
STPMX is designed to provide professional growth and development opportunities through events tailored to specific career paths, and partnerships with notable professionals and organizations. Although the program is open to students from all majors, the September event was tailored to pre-med, pre-PA, and other students interested in the healthcare professions. The event hosts provided a tour of campus showcasing several simulation labs, they gave program and application information, and they hosted a reception that allowed for mingling and conversation about the healthcare professions.
The Health Sciences Center is home to a state-of-the-art simulation center that allows both clinicians and students the opportunity to hone their practical skills on mannequins and standardized patients, as well as to familiarize themselves with a variety of medical conditions and a diverse pool of patients, as well as to familiarize themselves with a variety of medical conditions and a diverse pool of patients. Simulations include c-section and breech deliveries, administering anesthesia under difficult conditions, neonatal resuscitation, heart murmurs, and elevated blood pressure. The standardized patients serve to teach professionals how to properly take medical histories, perform physical exams, and adequately communicate to patients during difficult situations such as intubating a patient and delivering a newborn, as well as giving them the chance to meet HSC leaders. Dr. Raskob emphasizes that events like these are important because health professions and the degrees needed to get there can be very challenging. Hopefully, these early experiences can stick with students, helping to sustain their interest and enthusiasm.
Honors students were eager to take advantage of the STPMX event. Community Health and pre-med junior, Emiline Henderson, later said, "Throughout my visit, I gained valuable insight into several health science fields represented at OUHSC, connected with potential mentors in my future profession, and received guidance with my application." She added, "My favorite part was experiencing the simulation labs used by medical residents, and it was so affirming to see how pre-med students such as myself had gone on to find their place in the medical field."
Natalie Keller, a senior double majoring in Microbiology and Music, made the most of the event by gathering information about HSC internships and research opportunities. She too says her favorite part of the trip was intubating a human patient in the simulation lab. She is now keeping in touch with a mentor who helped arrange a tour of her lab in the week following STPMX.
The event also gave the Honors College a chance to catch up with familiar faces. The students' tour guide was Garrett Eakers, a 2019 microbiology Honors OU graduate who is a current Health Sciences Center student. He says, "Having the Honors College students here, to learn more about what the OU Health Sciences Center and its seven health professional colleges have to offer and to see slices of our day-to-day activities, is such an important experience."
This event served as an amazing kickoff to the 2022-23 academic year and to the many other STPMX events sure to benefit our students in the months to come.
