MedCaT
2012 MedCaT Academy
The 2012 MedCaT Academy was held July 15-19, on the Wake Forest School of Medicine (WFSM) and Reynolda campuses, and the thematic basis was diabetes and obesity.
MedCaT 2012 included 18 students and 5 teachers from Andrews, Cherokee, Murphy, Robbinsville, Smoky Mountain and Swain High Schools, all from the south western region of North Carolina. The theme for this year's program was Diabetes. The MedCaT students stayed on the WFU Reynolda campus and engaged in sessions on problem-based learning, healthy lifestyles, social determinants of health, hands-on science experiments, the college application process, and careers in the biomedical sciences. Teachers also engaged in a 3-day, intensive workshop on problem based learning instructional methods, provided by CERTL.
On Wednesday, July 18, students and teachers had the opportunity to tour Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and visit several areas within the medical center to get hands-on experience with the technology and tools used to care for patients. These areas included the Patient Simulation Lab and Cardiac Catheterization Lab, as well as interactive sessions on Bioimaging and diabetes education. A "Lunch and Learn" session gave them the opportunity to meet and talk with WFSM faculty and staff in many different fields, including pathology, nursing, hearing and speech, orthopedics, research and pharmacy. Three current and former WFSM students also spoke with the MedCaT group throughout the week about their medical school experience. The students' week culminated with academic presentations on their problem based learning case study, and a luncheon award banquet on the WFU Reynolda campus.
The 2012 MedCaT Academy was an exciting and enthusiastic group, working towards becoming tomorrow's health professionals. We at MACHE at grateful for all those who helped make this year's academy a success, and we look forward to next year!