Hands-on Sciences for Students from Underserved Communities at the Medical School, Duluth Campus

On June 2, the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus, offered a day-long science community event to students from underserved communities, from Denfeld and East High Schools, to learn about careers in medical research and family medicine.

Students had the option to select activities from the experimental research track, featuring DNA isolation, microscopy, cell imaging of cells, and the drosophila fruit fly as a model organism to study genetics.

The clinical track focused on activities about wilderness first aid or how to identify and treat the most common injuries in outdoors activities, heart anatomy and pathology, heart and lung neuroanatomy, as well as heart sounds and how they help health professionals identify heart conditions.

This event was a collaborative effort between ISD709 Duluth Public School Office of Education Equity, the local chapter of the NAACP and Drs. Pedro Fernandez-Funez and Sarah Lacher, faculty in the Biomedical Sciences Department, in the Medical School, Duluth campus.

Several faculty members from the Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Family Medicine and Behavioral Health led each activity, with the help of medical and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from the Medical School, as well as local scientists and medical practitioners.

WDIO and KBJR6, local news outlets, covered the event.