A DRSS Student Reflects on the Value of Internship Opportunities

DRSS Junior, Rachael Stowe, completed her internship experience in Cincinnati at multiple hospitals

By Rachael Stowe

This past week I completed my internship at multiple hospitals and medical practices in Cincinnati. As many people know, STEM’s internship requirement differentiates it from many other schools and their graduation requirements. The internship program at STEM is known for providing students with real experience in their field of choice before they graduate. Opportunities like this may even help some students decide what they want to pursue in college, which can be valuable information to have going into senior year.

Three of the five days I spent at my internship were "OR" days, or days where I arrived and got the chance to watch surgeries from inside the OR. Two of the days were OB/GYN surgeries and the third day was general surgery. 

What amazed me most was how every single person in the OR plays a very specific and very crucial role in the surgery. Even though not everyone touches the patient, they are just as important. 

The other thing that amazed me about surgery was the robotic surgeries I got to see on one of my OR days. These surgeries were interesting because they were done completely robotically. The robot arms are connected to the patient through ports in the stomach and then certain instruments are attached to allow the surgeon to cut and repair tissue. 

The surgeon never touches the robotic arms, instead they sit at large stations across the room and use finger holds with sensors to guide the robot on where to go. I learned that this approach can be better than laparoscopic surgery because laparoscopic cameras can only give a 2D image of the patient which can make it difficult to maneuver. The robot’s camera actually creates a 3D for the surgeon to look at which helps with perspective in the operating field.

The other two days of my internship, I interned at an OB/GYN practice. While I loved surgery, these days were my favorite because they allowed me to interact more with the patients and learn about a wide variety of conditions. This experience also gave me the chance to learn under a NP (Nurse Practitioner) which is one of the career fields I am extremely interested in. After this experience, I know that I would like to have a job where patient care is readily involved, as this was the most engaging part of the experience for me.

I was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to intern at the locations I did because of the many restrictions that can be placed on medical internships due to patient privacy rights. Connections I had to individuals who worked at these locations allowed me to have the full enriching experience I had.

Update on the Heroin Project

Students practice presenting to their classmates about their research.

By Rachael Stowe 

Students have recently wrapped up the main portion of the heroin epidemic project. On Wednesday March 15^th, students in the Economics class gathered with students from the Government class in small groups and reviewed the bill the Government students had written. The previous week the Econ classes had gotten into small groups and written out feedback on what to cut, revise and add to the bill. They then made comments based on this written feedback in a Google Doc version of the bill. 

When they met with the Government students, they separated again into smaller groups and vocalized their concerns and comments to the Government students. This feedback will then be used to revise the bill. Included in these comments were notes on the total cost of the provisions listed in the bill. 

The Economic students then researched and compiled these numbers. Having these cost amounts helped the Government students realize just how much the things that were listed in the bill would cost. Because of the large total cost, the Government students came to the realization that they would need to cut certain aspects of the bill to make it more likely to be passed.

On Thursday March 16^th, groups of Anatomy and Physiology students presented to small groups of students from either Econ or Government during 3^rd and 6^th period. Each of their presentations included information like the connection between the brain and addiction, what overdoses are and how they impact the body, and the types of treatment for addiction. The presenters also created different activities, like Kahoot quiz games or board games, to test the students acquired knowledge of the information they had presented. This information was important to the project as a whole, and the hope through presenting these facts was that the Econ and Government students would better understand the disease and struggle of addiction and keep this information in mind while revising their bill.

The bill now discusses three main topics: rehabilitation, prescription methods, and mail distribution. 

The rehabilitation part of the bill proposes mandatory rehabilitation centers in prisons as well as providing rehabilitation services as part of parole. This section also includes some assistance in paying for rehab programs and the expansion of many pre-existing rehabilitation facilities. 

The second portion, prescription methods, directly tries to prevent opioids from being misused in the first place by regulating prescription opioids. One of the largest ideas in this plan is to create an “pharmacy network of communication” so doctors can see how many prescriptions for opioids have been filled and can even contact pharmacies to prevent refills. 

The final main section is about the mail distribution of opioids. This proposes a two-step process for checking mail for opioids. This process requires spectrometry drug detection machines and K9 units. These measures would be put in place to help prevent the transportation of opioids through the mail system, which is a common mode of transportation for drug cartels. 

Even though the in-class portion of the heroin project is almost over, the out-of-class portion is just beginning. Later this month, select students from Econ and Government will go present the bill. This is the first step to getting the legislation actually introduced into the Ohio legislative branch. Students have mixed feelings about the project almost being over. “It was a good project”, says one student. “It was definitely a lot of work, so I won’t miss that part, but I will miss feeling like I am working on something so groundbreaking and important. I am glad to have had this opportunity to impact our state and the opioid epidemic. ”

DRSS Celebrates Vectren Day!

6th grade students ask questions of Vectren Representatives during their Engineering Enrichment course.

Kettering, OH - On Thursday, April 20, 2017, DRSS Representatives Kirk Barrett (Conservation Representative), David Lowe (Gas Distribution Engineer), Teresa Smith (Mechanical Engineer), and Rachel Goodspeed (Community Affairs) came to celebrate our first annual Vectren Day at DRSS. Their visit comes as part of the the school's partnership with Vectren, known as the "DRSS Engineering Career Tech Pathway Powered by Vectren," which kicked off at the start of the 2016-17 school year.

The day began with a talk to Ms. Reilly's Environmental Engineering class. Mr. Barrett provided students with an overview of its energy conservation program, and how and why Vectren seeks to help homes and businesses become more energy efficient through a variety of incentive programs. Following his presentation, Mr. Lowe and Ms. Smith joined him on a panel to answer questions.

Mr. Barrett provides students with an overview of what Vectren does and what programs he works on.

The students had many questions, ranging from energy efficiency to the impact of government regulations on the energy industry, all of which the Vectren representatives were happy to discuss.

At the end of their Q&A session, Mr. Barrett gave the students some advice for when they're considering where to go to college, telling them to ask themselves, "Does the school you're applying to have a co-op program? That's a question you should ask, especially in Engineering."

Mr. Lowe answers questions during the Q&A portion of their visit with the Environmental Engineering class.

When talking about how he ended up doing what he's doing now, he added, "Sometimes it's the little decisions you make and contacts you have along the way that make the big differences in your career, and you never know where your career is going to take you."

After speaking to the high school students, the Vectren representatives visited the 6th grade Engineering Enrichment course to talk to those students about what they do and the tools they use to do their jobs.

Students had many questions for them, asking them about everything from what they need to do to get into a career in Engineering to what they like most about their jobs.

"I've done everything at Vectren all the way from crawling around in boilers to working on a computer, and I love them both," Ms. Smith explained when asked about what her job looks like on a day to day basis.

"I like problem-solving, because that's really what Engineering is, and I get a chance to use my brain to dig into a problem and figure it out," Ms. Smith answered in response to a question about her favorite part of her job. "I've done everything from driving a bulldozer to designing a power plant during my time at Vectren," Ms. Smith told the students.

Mr. Lowe and Mr. Barrett demonstrate some of the tools they use on a daily basis to help them perform their jobs.

"I helped design the infrastructure that goes into Scene 75," explained Mr. Lowe. "It's fun because you get to do the whole thing on the projects we work on, from the design and specifications to talking directly with the customers about any special design needs they may have."

Engineering teacher, Kathryn Reilly was grateful for their visit, noting, "It's a great opportunity for our students to hear from real-life engineers about the kinds of projects they're working on. It gives students a concrete picture of what their career could look like if they decide to pursue a career in Engineering."

Vectren's not just a gas company, they are a great community partner as well! Thank you to Vectren for powering our bright future!

Students Travel to Local Parks to Study Water Quality

An example of a "Research Tree" students created to help guide their research.

By Katie Jones

The end of the school year is less than two months away, but that doesn’t mean students aren’t doing anything in their classes. The juniors have another joint project between their Technical Reading and Writing (TRW) and Chemistry classes. This time, instead of writing instructions, students will be writing a manuscript. The manuscript project will last until the end of the year, and students will be doing a variety of things for this project.

The juniors will be learning how to conduct and communicate research, test water, and compose a scientific manuscript. By doing each of these things students will increase their understanding of compiling research to provide context for their original research as well as communicating their research in the way that scientific journal articles would.

Specific to Chemistry, students will be focusing on acids and bases, the design of a research project, and solution concentrations/calculations. In TRW, the juniors’ learning will be more research and writing oriented. They will compile outside research into an annotated bibliography and use that research to write a scientific manuscript. Scientific manuscripts are unpublished research articles. In addition, students will have the opportunity to send their manuscript off for publication in various high school science journals.

Before writing the manuscript though, students had to first create a research question. For some groups, this was a rather long process with many revisions to the original question. One of the ways students refined their questions was by creating a research tree. These “trees” had the driving question of the entire project at the bottom, with the students’ own question on the tree trunk. Each group then added branches to the tree which had suggestions of things to look up that related to their questions.

However, research trees aren’t the only resource available to the juniors. To help in the process of creating this manuscript, several outside guests have or will come present to the juniors. These presenters include Chad Hammerschmidt, who is an Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at Wright State University (WSU) and Deanne French, a Statistical Consultant at WSU. Kate Excoffon, Associate Professor and Biological Sciences Associate Professor at Wright State University, will also be speaking.

However, what many students are most looking forward to are the field trips that they will be going on for this project. The juniors will go on field trips to the pond behind DRSS, Delco Park, and Woodmen Fen. Along with these three locations, they will also visit bodies of water/wetlands in and near various MetroParks like Wegerzyn Gardens, Island MetroPark, and Eastwood. Alyssa Jackson, one of the students going on the field trips, says that, “I really like that we get to go on an all-day field trip. I’m especially excited to visit the ponds.” Mrs. McDaniel, the TRW teacher, is similarly looking forward to the project stating that, “One of the things I’m most excited about is getting outside when the weather is going to be warmer, watching students do research, and then learning how to really communicate their research like they will in the real world and in their future career fields.”

Students Receive Career Advice from Healthcare Professionals at First Healthcare Industry Day

A large group of students interested in the healthcare industry took part in Healthcare Industry Day on March 28 and had the opportunity to ask questions of current healthcare professionals about a field each of them hopes to enter.

By Maya Quale

 

On Tuesday March 28, the Dayton Regional STEM School hosted its first Health Professions Day. Healthcare professionals from a variety of fields in the Dayton area came to partake in an event that gave DRSS students a chance to explore the career possibilities of the Medical field, including Wright State University, Premier Health, Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton Clinical Oncology Program, and Woodman Drive Animal Hospital.

Being a health professional is not solely comprised of doctors and nurses. While it is a major aspect of it, there are also physician’s assistants, physical therapists, epidemiologists, business professionals, and administrative nurses. These are just a few examples of a variety of career paths a person could take. During the session, professionals gave an example of how a resident nurse climbed the ladder and became President of Premier Health: her name is Mary H. Bossalis.

This event was set up so that everyone was sitting in a circle and students were able to ask various questions about what it means to be a health professional. Jake Ballard, class of 2017, said, “I think it’s really interesting because I already had my mind set on a career in the medical field, but this event cemented those feelings by allowing me to ask questions about my uncertainties. They gave a great deal of information: I could get an entry level job at my current age, while also receiving tuition assistance while I’m still in college. This allows me to get what I really want to do and still have a background in nursing, so I found all of it very interesting.”

Not only did this benefit students, it also gave health professionals awareness on what the future of the medical field could potentially be. Shawn Hamilton, an epidemiologist at Premier Health said, “I think [Healthcare Industry Day] helps us understand what the future is looking at doing and the new workforce in health care. This means we’re better able to prepare ourselves for what’s the common goal. I think it also gives students a great insight into something they might not know about. So, I think it’s the best of both worlds: we benefit because we understand the future workforce and the students benefit because they begin to understand exactly how the machine actually works.”

Students enjoyed Healthcare Industry Day because it gave them another opportunity to converse with experts in their field of interest, so hopefully it will continue to be in DRSS’ Bright Future.