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High school students listened intently as Julia Pfaff demonstrated the proper way to use a stethoscope. She also described the different parts of the heart and what heartbeat patterns to listen for.

“Find the second rib … go to the right and listen to the aortic sound, it should be subtle,” said Pfaff, a first-year LECOM Bradenton medical student. “Now go directly across to the sternum ... a little to the left, and listen to the pulmonary sound.”

LECOM Bradenton first-year medical student Julia Pfaff instructs Roselyne Frelinghuysen at the Medical Science Academy.

Pfaff and three of her classmates are spending the early part of the summer teaching high school students at LECOM Bradenton’s Medical Science Academy (MSA).

MSA offers 11th graders, 12th graders and recent high school graduates a two-week program in which they experience an academic medical school environment by participating in small group instruction, laboratory experiments and clinical shadowing.

Students are actively participating in a Problem Based Learning (PBL) format in which groups of eight students and a medical student facilitator learn with hands-on experiences.

The high school students have learned the art of suturing and splinting. They also participated in first-aid and CPR training and will experience healthcare in a clinical setting.

“The program gives students a real experience of what it is like to be a medical student,” said MSA coordinator Russell Sexton, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry.