UC High Biomed students went on a field trip to healthcare company CareFusion on October 25 to learn how health care technology is produced.
According to Biomed Teacher Ellie Vandiver, students in Biomedical Innovations, the senior class of the Biomedical Sciences Program, were able to attend the field trip.
Vandiver explained that CareFusion creates health care products such as IV machines and medicine dispensers. “They make medical equipment for hospitals,” said Vandiver. “We took a tour of the facility and saw how they do that. And, we talked to the vice president of the company during a presentation for us.”
“It was easy to see how beneficial their technology was to medical fields everywhere,” said Senior Ryan Allsop.
The visit focused on one of the aspects of the Biomed curriculum, improving safety in health care. “That’s really big and important–safety,” said Vandiver.
Vandiver said she hopes that communication with CareFusion will lead to internship opportunities for students. “I’d been trying to connect with this company for a while, and I’d like to actually get some students in there to do internships,” said Vandiver. “All of these students go outside and do internships,” she added.
Vandiver said that the proximity of CareFusion made potential internships convenient. “It’s really just right over on Torrey Pines,” she added.
In addition to the field trip to CareFusion, the Biomedical Innovations class also went on a field trip on September 15 to UCSD’s Thorton Emergency Department, where they took a tour, according to Vandiver.
“We listened to speakers talk about the emergency room,” said Senior Carol Thivierge. “It was interesting,” added Senior Aida Garrido. “We had a project to improve the Emergency Room, and we presented it to a panel of the people who had spoken to us [at the Emergency Department].”
According to the website of Project Lead the Way (PLTW), the Biomedical Sciences Program is one of the programs instilled by PLTW, an organization that helps advance students’ education and involvement in “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.” PLTW focuses on a “hands-on, real-world problem-solving approach to learning” (pltw.org).
According to Vandiver’s website, there are four Biomed classes, one for each grade level: Principles of Biomedical Sciences, Human Body Systems, Medical Interventions, and Biomedical Innovations. According to Vandiver’s syllabi, students learn about subjects ranging from physiology and genetics to surgery and biomedical engineering (sandi.net).
According to Vandiver’s website, students in Biomedical Innovations are also given opportunities to intern at Scripps Clinic and the Veterans Administration Medical Center during their senior year.