Next Generation of Doctors Get an Early Start
By: Andrea Robinson
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio University’s Pediatric Club has created an opportunity for kids in the community to experience what it is like to be a doctor. Doctor for a Day is held annually by the Pediatric Club in an effort to educate children about medicine.
Doctor for a Day is a hands-on learning experience free to families in the community. Hannah Miller, the club’s community service chair, planned this year’s event on October 18, 2019 at the Athens Public Library.
Miller said the purpose of Doctor for a Day is to show kids “how one day they can be like us, wear a white coat and have fun as a doctor.”
The Pediatric Club is made up of over 50 medical students from Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Most of the members are in medical school. Promoting the field of pediatrics is their main mission.
“I love working with kids. I think they have funny ideas and A cool way of seeing the world,” Pediatric Club President Naomi Kasturiarachi said.
Kasturiarachi worked as a gymnastics coach when she found her passion for pediatrics. She is in her fourth year as a medical student and plans to graduate in 2022.
The event promotes learning – in a fun way. The young doctors-in-training began by putting on a white lab coat from the Heritage College. Then they explored a variety of stations including: emergency medicine, hearing and vision testing, x-rays, and medical equipment.
At each station, the medical students taught the basics of medical practice such as when it’s time to call 911, how to listen to someone’s heart, and even how to locate the kidney.
“I learned that different parts of bodies can be broken even though they don’t look like it,” said Hope Murphy, a first grader attending the event.
Murphy said she too wants to be a doctor for kids when she grows up. She said she and other attendees now want be doctors .