Youth Science Enrichment Program (YSEP) 1/29/17

Often times my mentees ask me what day to day medical school  is like. And to be honest it's pretty much the same every day from studying to meeting up for small group to holding back the tears (jk that's not every day...more like once a week). Most of the diversity in my medical school journey come from being involved in extra curricular activities and volunteering.

What does that look like in medical school, you ask? 

Well, about once a month I along with several other medical students travel to a nearby grade school to expose students to careers in medicine, basic anatomy, and physiology as part of SNMA's  Youth Science Enrichment Program (YSEP).

This past Friday we traveled to the school to teach the students all about the eye. We went over the different components of the eye and demonstrated how the pupils constrict with light. We also taught the students how to test their depth perception and locate their blind spots.

The students are always super enthusiastic for YSEP, especially when there's any kind of interactive component in the lesson. We always wrap up our YSEP sessions with a class wide game where we allow the students to break off into teams and compete against each other for candy. (You'd be surprised how competitive they get even though we literally give everyone candy in the end haha.)

SNMA/YSEP is just one example of how medical students at my school give back. Howard University's Chapter of SNMA has tons of other "pipeline" programs that reach out to highschool students and pre-med students in undergrad. Check out our Facebook page for more info!