Posted on July 4 2011 by Cody Stones

Prescription for success: El Paso ISD students introduced to field of medicine

Alandra Rodriguez looks at a fingerprint on a plastic cup with a magnifier in a forensics lab Tuesday during the DREAMS Pre-Med Summer Program at the Silva Health Magnet School.

When fifth-grader Roman Rodriguez comes home from summer camp, he doesn’t talk about learning how to shoot free throws or experimenting with paints.

Instead, Roman discusses healthy blood-pressure levels, strong bone density and the prevalence of childhood obesity.

“It’s amazing to hear him talking about what he learned in camp,” said his mother, Becky Avila. “It’s not like any other summer camp.”

That’s because this camp is not recreational. It’s focused on DREAMS: Developing Research and Early Aspirations for Medical Scholars.

The five-week summer enrichment program is designed to create a pipeline for minority students to enter the medical field.

“If we didn’t have medicine and doctors, we’d all be very sick,” said Roman, who attends Crockett Elementary School and aspires to become a pediatrician. “There is really a lot of fun stuff here that we use to learn, and you don’t even feel like you’re learning.”

Now in its seventh year, DREAMS is open to fifth- and sixth-graders from the Bowie, Jefferson, Austin and El Paso high-school feeder patterns — primarily low-income minority students.

Students must meet selection criteria, which include good grades, passing TAKS scores and teacher recommendations.

About 180 students are enrolled this summer.

Camp director Donna Serna said the ultimate goal is to have participants enroll in the Maxine Silva Health Magnet High School or another medical-track school so that they are prepared academically to enter college and medical school.

More than 400 students countywide apply to Silva Health Magnet every year. About 200 are accepted.

“With the Paul Foster Medical School now in El Paso, there’s a direct pipeline students can aim for,” Serna said.

“We would hope they come to Silva and then Foster, but really, it’s about creating more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and hopefully keeping them here in El Paso to serve their community,” Serna said.

Serna said the summer DREAMS camp, NEIGHBORHOODS
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 which may expand into Northeast El Paso next year, is the highlight of her teaching year.

“This is the part of our entire school year we just live for,” Serna said.

“It’s so intense, and so fun. They’re learning at a higher level while having fun,” she said.

Dressed in medical scrubs, students work in three rotations that cover the curriculum of childhood obesity, orthopedic robotics and medical forensics. They learn medical terminology and even some screening procedures, such as taking blood pressure.

“He’s really excited about it,” Avila said. “He’s learning a lot and is really motivated to pursue a career in the medical field.”

Under the obesity rotation, students research data, study lifestyles and learn about healthful eating and exercise habits.

This year, students participated in a Zumba exercise class and hailed it as a hit.

In the robotics rotation, students design and program Lego robots and research the impact of robotics in disabled patients.

Through simulated scenarios, including solving the case of the “Dead Diva,” students examine medical pathology. Students conduct fingerprinting, blood typing, fabric testing and other tests to figure out who killed a movie star.

DREAMS is sponsored by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which runs the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, and the El Paso Independent School District Advanced Academic Services Department.

The medical school accepted its first class of 40 students two years ago. They’re expected to graduate in 2013.

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