By Maya Kostov
Because TPA is the kind of school that doesn’t have electives, many students choose to explore through extra-curricular activities. Under supervision by Mrs. Challis, 8th grader Caroline Webster created the Pre-Med Club, open for students in 6th-12th grade. The club provides TPA students, along with herself, some exposure to the medicine world.
In the club, they do a variety of things. It can vary from doing dissections (the club had previously dissected a fetal pig), to guest speakers like physical therapists, optometrists and acupuncturists coming in and talking about what they do on a day-to-day basis. The guest speakers also give a little bit of backstory about how they got to where they are today and they also give advice to students about what they should do if they want to go into the same profession.
The club also does research projects so you can get a feel for what field of medicine you might want to go into or just learn more about medicine in general. After some research, Caroline now knows that she wants to be an obstetrician, a doctor that helps deliver babies. Not only that, but the club also goes over what kind of things a student who wants to go into medicine should do in high school and what to study in college.
The club hopes to institute medical volunteering at local hospitals for students who want that kind of exposure. This club is unique from most because it is run by the members. A new member is chosen each meeting to run the next meeting, and they must also choose what the meeting will be about and research it beforehand.
Pre- Med Club is a very interactive club and very useful for young students who don’t know what they want to do yet. Caroline says that her favorite thing about the club is actually learning what life will be like as a doctor. Pre-Med Club is a great way to explore the field of medicine!