National Youth Leadership Forums

(September 2007--Riverhead, NY) Four RHS students, Catherine Butler (Washington, DC), Heather Bingham (Philadelphia), Carolyn Smith (Philadelphia) and Jessica Kuang (Boston), attended National Youth Leadership Medical Forums at colleges in the cities listed above. The NYLFs were ten days long and introduced these young women to a possible career in the medical field. They stayed on college campuses and had Medical Education Discussions (MEDs) and on-site experiences at area hospitals.

“We sutured bananas, learned to take blood pressure, participated in triage simulations, saw an open heart surgery” shared Katie Butler, who stayed at Georgetown University. “We were divided into groups named after doctors in history for our MEDs. I was in a group named after Dr. Dorothy Brown. At each session we discussed different roles within and aspects of the medical field. We had a simulation where we interviewed for a residency.”
“I held a brain in my hands,” stated Heather. Both Katie and Heather also participate in the HOPE program at Stony Brook University’s Medical School.

“In Boston, I went to the Northeastern University of Healthcare where speeches were given about various jobs in the medical field,” shared Jessica Kuang. “We also saw a live televised surgery on an 80 year old woman who had cancerous tumors in her ovaries.”

Carolyn Smith enjoyed the experience, but decided that maybe medicine was not necessarily the field for her. “It’s pretty intense,” she stated.

The other girls felt stronger than ever about continuing in the medical field.

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