Rebecca Brewer

Brewer’s winning project, “Mini-Med School: Simulating Surgeries”, is designed to move 11th and 12th grade biology students at Troy High School from simply dissecting preserved specimens to also performing mock surgical procedures on the organs. After they go through classroom learning about the anatomy of the heart, the next day, they will dissect the preserved heart, and then the following day, they will learn that their “patient” had a heart attack, and they will have to diagnose and treat the symptoms. Additionally, medical experts that have an existing relationship with the school because of the medical job shadowing program with the local hospital will come in to talk to the students on relevant practice area days such as a cardiac surgeon on heart surgery day and a neurosurgeon on brain surgery day. Ultimately, Brewer will engage students in authentic learning experiences, igniting problem-solving through diagnosis of their patients and teach them new hands-on skills and techniques not typically taught in high school. She hopes it may inspire them to become the future doctors of tomorrow.