A Trip To The Labs

On April 28th a group of students went on a trip with anatomy teacher, Sarah Englis, to participate in career exploration, and to advance their knowledge in the human body.

The students left school early, at 7:30, to start their day. First they interviewed an athletic trainer and learned about athletic training, physical therapy and occupational therapy. After that they went on a tour of Cox College. Englis described the college, “They don’t just have nursing, they have also have x-ray, they also have respiratory, they also have occupational therapy.” 

At Cox College they had a system of rotations. They went to the skills area where they learned how to use medical tools, and examined each other’s ears. They went to the radiology labs and then the simulation lab. Serenity Davis (12) explained, “The simulation lab was cool because it had fake people that could blink, talk and even give birth so it was fun to go see how the nurses got all their practice.”

The kids on the field trip were then served Jimmy Johns for lunch, Englis mentioned, “The kids loved that.” 

After they ate lunch they went to the undergraduate and graduate cadaver lab at MSU, where they examined around 10 cadavers. Englis explained, “It was amazing, you never know what’s going to be in the cadaver lab because you never know who’s going to be donating their body that year.” They saw an assortment of things, including a spleen that was 3 times too large, tumor covered lungs and a brain with a chunk missing. 

After their trip at the cadaver labs they went to Jordan Valley Community Health Center to tour what they offered. Englis said, “At jordan valley if you’re a patient there you have a doctor, you have a nurse, you have behavioral health specialist, you have an optometrist, you have a dentist, all in the same building.” Jordan Valley focuses on women, children and low income, which allowed the students to learn more about how their healthcare model is different from others.  

The students spent the whole school day on their field trip, and got back before school ended, around 3:15. Englis explained the relation of the field trip to everything they have learned throughout the school year, “The cadaver lab is amazing because the things we have been learning on the anatomy side, you get to see, if you were really interested in muscles, you got to see all those muscles. I had a kid that was really interested in seeing a thyroid.” 

This year students who had missed out on the field trip the previous year were allowed to attend this year. Anna Newlin (12) explained, “I was able to go on the field trip because I took anatomy last year. The past two years, the field trip had been canceled due to COVID, and Mrs. Englis wanted to give us the opportunity to go since it’s something that all of her other anatomy classes were able to do.” 

The students got to see everything they learned and were interested right in front of them. Students who are interested in pursuing a medical career were also able to learn more about the medical field.