HOSA’s Mini Med Academy Paves the Way for Future Medics
HOSA raises money by hosting a Mini Med Academy for 3rd-5th graders, teaching the students medical knowledge while still having fun with different activities
During the beginning of the academy, the students partook in many different stations. Here sophomore Sophia Hegyi walks the kids through a heart dissection as part of one of the stations.
March 14, 2023
This year in order to raise money, HOSA hosted their first ever Mini Med Academy which went on to exceed the expectations of HOSA members.
“I was blown away by the amount of kids that were there. It just blew me away how interested they were,” senior Fiona Do said. Do and other HOSA members were worried the academy wouldn’t have many students or the students wouldn’t be interested and just get bored, but that was the complete opposite.
The Mini Med Academy was a fun and informational event for third through fifth graders. The event was held on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. here in Mrs. Strathman’s room. In the Med Academy, HOSA members taught the elementary schoolers about different aspects of medicine and the medical field. In total, around 20 kids attended the academy which was huge for HOSA. Along with HOSA advisors Mrs. Strathman and Mrs. Beierman, seven HOSA members helped run the Mini Med Academy.
“We raised $360 which isn’t too bad for three hours of work and also it’s more of just getting young students involved in medicine so that hopefully when they get to Liberty they will join HOSA and take some PLTW Biomed classes too,” Mrs. Strathman explained.
The Mini Med Academy was packed with fun activities and medical knowledge.
“First we started off with stations with different dissections (heart, kidney, and bones) and taught them how to read blood pressure and pulse oximeters. After the stations, they got to tour an ambulance which was given by the St. Charles Ambulance District which was super cool. We then came back to do more stations like drawing blood and stopping a bleed,” Do recalled.
It was awesome!
— Ainslee Quinn - 4th Grade
Although the academy was filled with cool dissections, an ambulance tour and other cool stations, the highlight of the event wasn’t the activities but the students who attended the academy who were interested and inquisitive beyond belief. During the academy, Kyles Gaines, who is the Director of Community Relations for St. Charles County Ambulance District, came to speak to the students and answer medical questions before they got to tour the ambulance. Gaines was really amazed by the kids’ questions.
“I cannot recall a group of young people, very young people, with better questions. This group really had a lot of insightful inquiries for kids as young as they are,” Gaines said. “I was very impressed by that. They were wanting to know about everything from proper CPR techniques to some pretty advanced medical conditions. I got a question about dysentery which was very interesting. We don’t see very much of that on the ambulances, but it just shows that at lower grade levels they are getting into some pretty advanced medical topics. I think if these kids stay on that path and continue to be interested in it then the future is very bright for medicine in our community if these are the kinds of kids that are coming up.”
Many of the kids had a great time. Fifth grader Carter Johnson was one of the students who attended. Johnson talked about having a great time and his interest in medicine. When asked what his favorite part was, Johnson answered, “Just meeting new people and learning new stuff about the body.” Another student, fourth grader Emma Forrest, talked about the event saying, “It was really fun because I liked the stations we had and how we got to see the ambulance.”
It wasn’t just the student who had a great experience. HOSA volunteers also had a great time teaching and interacting with the students. Mrs. Strathman talked about her experience.
“I always love seeing the HOSA members interact with other people and share their knowledge and their expertise. So it was especially fun seeing the HOSA tell the 3-5th graders about body and medicine and the little kids were just awed by all of it,” Strathman said. “Which was so cool to see their interests and engagement with the activities.”
Sophomore Sophia Hegyi was another HOSA volunteer and talked about how excited she was being at the academy.
“I was very excited. I was equally as excited as the kids were about the ambulance because I wanted to go into EMS, so I kinda had to hide it,” Hegyi said.
Mrs. Beierman was there helping at the event. Beierman had brought her two daughters to attend the academy and talked about how impactful the event was not just for her children but for others who attended.
“I think it was hugely impactful for children that might be interested in healthcare or have maybe sparked it,” Beierman said. “My youngest, who is currently in first grade, was there just because I had nowhere to take her. She’s terrified of blood and needles, but she dove right in, and that shocked me so I’m hoping that it kinda helps that fear a lot of kids have about doctors or healthcare or ambulance, kind of familiarize them.”
With the huge success and impact of the Mini Med Academy, HOSA plans on making this an annual event and even plans on expanding the event even further. Junior Emma Thomas who was there as a HOSA volunteer expressed her excitement for the future of the event.
“I’m so excited to continue this. I think it gives kids an insight of what medicine is or if they even want to pursue medicine at a young age it gives them a little more exposure,” Thomas said. “In the future there may be some things that we can add to the Mini Med Academy to make it more informative. I think we can increase the amount of volunteers that we had but other than that it went really well.”
At the end of the day, HOSA was not only able to raise a lot of money but they were able to spark interest in the young attendees who may just be the future of healthcare.
