Score 1 for Health Receives Rave Reviews from Students of SVN

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) kicked off a new school year filled with excitement and promise with our Score 1 for Health program that partners medical students and children for health screenings in the community.

KCU student doctors welcomed 250 elementary school students from Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School for a day of health screenings combined with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education Friday, August 25 at the KCU campus.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for KCU as well as the kids at SVN,” said Annette Campbell, executive director of Score 1 for Health. “It gives our medical students hands-on experience in the basics of doing an examination, but also teaches them that patients have a lot to give.”

KCU students juggled the basics of taking blood pressure, checking reflexes and tracking vision with kids who wanted to chat and play. Student doctors found themselves absorbed in intense conversations about the patient’s favorite kind of cookie, and plenty of stethoscopes landed in eager little hands so the SVN children could hear what a heartbeat sounds like with their own ears.

Activities included an organ dissection and Anatomage table demonstrations, a yoga class, salsa making in the garden, and a computer deconstruction project. The children also made an official badge with the title of “Future Doctor.”

Second year student, Emily Schoesmith, worked with middle-school students in the simulation lab, as they treated a patient who was struggling to breathe. “It means so much to get out of the books and have hands-on experience,” Schoesmith said. “Plus, it lets us get to know the community and inspire the kids to explore science and medicine.”

Brandon Caromona, an 8^th grader, took his time with the simulated patient seriously. “We were helping her survive because she had breathing problems,” he said. “We used an oxygen mask and a medicine called ‘saline’. In the future I would like to be a doctor. It would really fun and cool to be able to help people.”