The FACES Summer Medical Academy (FSMA) was created to expose high school students to the field of medicine, nursing, and allied professions. This year’s Academy was a huge success! High school students were able to take part in this one of a kind summer enrichment experience.

In partnership with Samuel Merritt University, FACES for the Future Coalition hosted 45 scholars from July 16 - 27, 2018 to provide a unique lens for high students to explore the health care field. The main takeaways we heard from our students were:

In our first week, students were mentored by numerous health professionals and received a crash course on various clinical skills including taking vitals, immunizations, and IV placement. Some proved much harder than others – especially intubation!

Students had many opportunities to meet and talk to professionals from various fields in healthcare. They were able to interact with a team of emergency medical technicians and were fascinated by the high-pressure situations EMTs face every day. The students also took a field trip to the UCSF School of Medicine where they met with current medical students and learned about the long but fulfilling road to becoming a doctor. Our FSMA scholars were also introduced to nurses, doctors, physician’s assistants, pathologists, global health workers, and much more.

Many of our workshops taught skills that a doctor uses in daily practice, but aren’t necessarily taught in a classic classroom setting, such as cultural competency and patient-centered care. Students role-played as doctors in very sensitive patient situations. This challenged students to check the assumptions and biases that might hinder communication and trust in a patient setting. Students commented on how this was an extremely eye-opening experience for them.