CABOT — To help students learn more about the medical field, the Cabot High School auditorium temporarily became an operating room earlier this month.
On Oct. 7, MidSouth Orthopedics and surgeon Dr. Joel Smith visited the school to perform a live rotator-cuff surgery on a cadaver for Cabot High School’s Medical Academy students. The Medical Academy is a career pathway that includes two tracks for 10th- through 12th-graders: therapeutic services and sports medicine. There are about 400 students in the Medical Academy — who can choose to be a part of both tracks — and 261 of them attended the live surgery.
MidSouth Orthopedic’s School Outreach Program partners with surgeons and local high schools to help students become excited about pursuing careers in medicine.
“I felt like I had a better view of what would happen if I went into the medical field,” said Janson Hubanks, a junior medical honors student. “I feel like I got a better understanding of how it really is in the [operating] room, and if he were to mess up, he knows that you can’t cut corners in a surgery.”
During the surgery, a projector showed the students what was taking place inside the shoulder while Smith explained the procedure, identified tendons and named the tools being used.
Through the Medical Academy, students have the opportunity to take courses such as Intro to Medical Professions, Medical Terminology, Sports Medicine I and II, and Anatomy & Physiology.
Megan Viele, a junior who chose the sports-medicine track, said she became interested in sports medicine because of experiences she had at a younger age. She wants to major in athletic training at the University of Central Arkansas and complete graduate school at the University of Arkansas, she said.
“When I was younger, I injured myself a lot all the time,” she said. “I just thought that it was really interesting when I would go to the doctor, and they would tell me about all my injuries and how to fix them. And then when I got in high school, I had the opportunity to actually go through everything that they do and learn about it.”
Hubanks, who said UCA is also a top pick for him, said he plans to study biology in college, then go on to become a surgeon.
“I chose medical professions not knowing really what I wanted to get into,” he said. “Once I saw the wide variety of choices I had, then that helped me narrow down what I really wanted to do. Then I chose medical terminology to learn more about the terminology and what would be used whenever I was joining the medical field.”
After the surgery, students participated in a question-and-answer with Smith, and 21 medical honors students got to stick around to get hands-on experience with two additional cadavers: another shoulder and a knee.
During the question-and-answer portion after the surgery, Smith gave insight into why he chose the orthopedic field. He said he’s always liked science and that improvements in technology lead to improvements in the field.
“I thought it was really cool that someone could break their thigh bone in half, and we can put a rod in it, and they can get up and walk on it the next day,” Smith said. “I thought that was pretty cool. We don’t do a lot of lifesaving surgeries, but we do a lot of life-improving surgeries.”
Even if students do know if they’d like to become a surgeon, the live surgery that took place could help them make that decision, Viele said.
“I just think it’s a good opportunity for all of the kids who are in the class to see what it’s going to be like if they want to do something like this when they’re older,” Viele said.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.