CI MED students partnered with the CI MED Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 to host “Doctor for a Day.”
Written by
Students from the Carle Illinois College of Medicine are creating new chances to expose high school students to careers in health care. CI MED students partnered with the CI MED Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 to host “Doctor for a Day.”
CI MED students and faculty welcomed students in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program from Centennial and Central High Schools to the JUMP Simulation Center in Urbana, Ill., with workshops in medical skills, including heart and lung sounds, intubation, anatomy, and laparoscopic surgery, planned for the event. The event also included a question & answer panel over lunch with CI MED faculty and students.
Doctor for a Day is aimed at encouraging students to pursue a career as a physician. “I remember as a high school student, aspiring to become a doctor, but never being exposed outside of my own doctor’s visits,” said CI MED Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Dr. Nicole Del Castillo. “I would have loved to attend an event like this. To come to campus, get hands on medical experience, and to connect with medical students and physicians. I hope I can also be an example and inspire students that if I, a Centennial High School alumnus, am a doctor, they can be as well.”
“I wanted Doctor for a Day to pique the curiosity of the high school students,” said Debora Nya, first-year medical student and lead organizer of the event. “I wanted the knowledge and skills exposure to inspire questions. This year, we had many medical student, undergraduate student, and physician volunteers, so this was the perfect environment for the high school students to get a better understanding of the journey of medicine. They had the opportunity to ask several clinical questions but also questions about the experience at different stages in a medical career. They had the chance to acquire this information during the stations throughout the day and at the end of our event when we had our Q&A panel.”
The event was organized by the CI MED chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), which is committed to supporting future and current medical students from underrepresented backgrounds, and the CI MED Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The event was held Friday April 26, 2024 at the JUMP Simulation Center in Urbana, IL.