The last M-BEST workshop, the Medical Workshop, is a huge success. People especially loved the dissections

Lauren Yang | Staff Reporter
Photo by Erin Broderick

The last M-BEST sponsored workshop, the Menlo Medical Workshop, occurred on Saturday, March 28, 2015. The Medical Workshop was one of the most anticipated workshop of the year and incorporated intriguing presentations and hands-on dissections and surgeries. The goal of the Medical Workshop was to expose students to the world of medicine. “[Another goal was to help people realize] that there is not an expected path to medical careers,” Upper School Director of M-BEST Joanie Banks said.

The workshop kicked off with a presentation by sophomore Amrita Misha, who discussed the recent research and implementations of exoskeletons. Misha’s talk covered everything from what an exoskeleton was to how it could be implemented into the real world to help others. “[Misha] gave a great presentation about the development and application of exoskeletons. You could tell she had a genuine interest in the topic and she presented it well,” junior Erin Broderick said.

After Misha’s talk, Dr. Sharon Clark presented about her experiences in the STEM field and in the arts. “[Clark] shared several interesting stories about […] the personal rewards of plastic surgery, [more specifically, plastic surgery] that improves the lives of burn and cranial deformity patients,” Banks said. Clark also discussed her unconventional path to her current medical career.

The workshop gave students a taste of what a career in medicine was like because participants engaged in a white coat ceremony, performed dissections, and had the opportunity to ask real doctors about their experiences in a doctor panel. Students had the choice of either dissecting a fetal pig or learning how to close wounds with proper technique. “[From the pig dissection] we got hands on experience [in] making incisions and looking in a pig [to] identify its anatomy,” sophomore Mina Mahmood said. Another popular activity was learning how to graft skin. “My favorite part was learning skin grafting and trying it myself even though it’s really hard to tie thread with tweezers,” sophomore Ashley Zhang said.

The Menlo Medical workshop reaped numerous positive reviews, and students walked away not only with new surgical skills but also with advice from the inspirational speakers.