Freshman year: Principles of Biomedical Science

We start the year with a mysterious death….determining why young college student Anna Garcia died. We then take on the task of determining how a mysterious infection has broken out at a hospital, we become a stat-flight crew as we assess and treat a critically ill hiker, we learn how to manage and treat patients in a medical facility, and we design an app to make healthcare more accessible and better. Skills learned include DNA electrophoresis, starting an IV, heart dissection, crime scene fingerprinting, and how to control bleeding, just to name a few.

Sophomore year: Human Body Systems

This course starts off with a skeletal discovery….bones are found on our campus. Whose bones are they? We then discuss all the major body systems as we learn how to perform a urinalysis, dissect brains, kidneys, and eyes, and then learn how to treat burns and other disorders. We design a nutritional/exercise program for a patient and also learn how smoking affects cardiovascular health. Students perform EKG’s on each other and monitor heart rate.

Junior year: Medical Interventions

This class is very high tech. We perform experiments that are typically done in hospitals or big biotech laboratories. We analyze DNA, determine cancer treatments for patients, use PCR analysis to make copies of DNA, and we even transform bacteria and make them glow! Students analyze the DNA of breast cancer patients to determine if they have inherited the BRCA genes. We also get to practice laparoscopic surgery and how to stitch a wound. This course is comparable to a college lab course!

Senior year: BioMedical Innovations

The fourth class is a mixture of independent study and job shadowing. You will design your own ER after visiting an emergency room and finding out what works well and what doesn’t. We will create a community awareness campaign for public health. We take on the task of helping a community with their water supply by testing and analyzing what is in their water.