Congratulations to the participants and staff at the recent Swedish Hospital Mini-Medical School. The week long virtual sessions enabled more than 160 students from neighborhood public high schools and under-resourced schools across Chicago to learn about clinical medicine through interactive lectures and discussions. Dr. Denis Williams, an Orthopedic Surgeon and Chairman of Surgery at Swedish Hospital, developed the camp in 2020 in collaboration with Community Organizer Jennifer Dixon to provide students the opportunity to interact with medical professionals and become familiar with a range of professions available in the medical field.
Funded by the Swedish Hospital Foundation, the program enables students from all walks of life see a future for themselves in medicine. “Many young students across the city are interested in medicine but may not have exposure or the critical guidance and the resources to learn more about the fields during their formative years,” said Dr. Williams. “Exposure to certain concepts and ideas at a young age is likely to positively impact decisions in the future and leave lasting encouragement.”
The Medical staff lecturers were notably from a range of ethnic backgrounds and from traditional and non-traditional pathways in their unique fields of medicine. The lectures were designed to discuss the value of a medical career and joys of the field and lecturers touch on some of the hardships encountered along the journey. All medical staff presenters volunteered their time to teach and included physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses and surgical assistants.
For many of the students, the experience left them with a new perspective. According to one student, “I learned that the Swedish Hospital is very diverse because there were guest speakers that came from different countries and they never felt discouraged by not being able to reach their dream career solely because they weren’t born in the U.S.A and I feel like now you hear a lot about young people feeling discouraged to chase their dreams because of their background.” Even life-lessons were imparted to the students, one of whom reflected, “I learned that I might not get into medical school on my first try, and that’s okay. Even if I don’t get in, I should continue to work so I can achieve my goal.”
Dr. Denis Williams (left) Orthopedic Surgeon and Chairman of Surgery at Swedish Hospital, joins Dr. Igor Prus, Sports Medicine, to present at the recent virtual Mini Med School which provided public high school students across Chicago the opportunity to learn about clinical medicine through interactive lectures and discussion sessions.
Dr. Denis Williams, Orthopedic Surgeon and Chairman of Surgery at Swedish Hospital appeared on
Fox 32 Chicago on August 23 to discuss the recent virtual Mini Med School which provided public high school students across Chicago the opportunity to learn about clinical medicine through interactive lectures and discussion sessions.
