July 29, 2005

Bermudians explore the medical field at MGH

For 10 high school students from Bermuda, their trip to Boston and the MGH proved to be the experience of a lifetime. The students — who all share an interest in the medical field and are volunteers at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda — spent the week of July 24 participating in a health careers exploration program developed by the MGH Community Benefit Office School Partnership Program. With the support of several departments, the students participated in activities including learning the history of the MGH, and visiting the Museum of Science, the Institute of Health Professions and Harvard Medical School (HMS). They also had a daylong job-shadowing pportunity with an MGH health care provider. Above, the students visit the human simulation lab at HMS and learn to check vital signs.

On July 26, Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH; John W. Stakes, MD, director of Specialty Care Development for the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization; Ralph Richardson, executive director of the ACE Foundation, the organization from Bermuda that provided funding for the students; and Candace A. Burns, of the Community Benefit Program; officially welcomed the students and their chaperones to the MGH. Other representatives from the Community Benefit Program and the International Office also were present.

"Approximately 80 percent of nurses in Bermuda are not originally from Bermuda," said Richardson. "To have so many students who are interested in the medical field is very exciting, and I am very proud of these students."