Year 12 Human Biology Excursion

By Mitchell Joyce-Griggs, Science Teacher

On the afternoon of 17 October, our year 12 Human Biology students, accompanied by Miss Lauren Heyward, Mr. Mitchell Joyce-Griggs, and Mr. Graeme Poleweski, attended the ANU school of Medicine and Psychology. Here our students engaged with a diverse suite of activities, showcasing the breadth and depth of medical science and clinical practice.

Firstly, they were divided into teams of specialists, mimicking clinical practice in an emergency department, and presented with a case study involving cranial trauma. Our students worked diligently in the laboratory using resources including models, VR, and craft activities in their roles as mock neurosurgeons, neurologists, ophthalmologists, and anatomists to understand the case. Later they had the chance to learn from medical school lecturer and ophthalmologist Associate Professor Krisztina Valter-Kocsi, who enlightened us with the importance of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and care in medical practice. Also, in extending their critical thinking and heralding the importance of confidence and creativity in medical practice, our students were tasked with creating a creative response to a reading about the importance of debunking misinformation and the implications of the limbic system. Despite the challenging nature of the tasks, several students showcased their creative talents and scientific understanding in the form of rewritten pop and rap hits, dance, and even acrostic poetry.

Students lastly had the chance to speak with current medical students Mel and Taylor, Associate Professor Valter-Kocsi, as well as lecturer in public health Dr Rosalie Aroni about, among other things, the realities of university life, the demanding and rewarding nature of medical study, and the practicalities of gaining admission into medical study. In closing, Associate Professor Valter-Kocsi poignantly advised our students to ‘try to think of medicine not just as an applied science, but also as a tool on how to deal with patients, how to talk to them, how to find out the reasons for their illness, to try and prevent as many of these patients arriving in the ER, how to make their journey through the healthcare system as smooth of possible, and their trip home and what happens there.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to ANU and all staff and students mentioned above for their gracious hospitality and enriching activities. We in the Science faculty look forward to making many more such opportunities available to Radford students in the future.