Health Careers II students from SM North obtain real world medical experience by shadowing professionals at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.

by eric rosa <executive editor>

A bearded volunteer greets the incoming students as they sign in on the clipboard. Already the students have navigated the crowded hallway leading to Volunteer Services, and now the students record which department they will be in for the day.

Senior Nicole DeMaranville signs in for Surgery.

She proceeds to the elevators, through the halls and finally to the surgical department. Going through the staff lounge, she emerges moments later wearing surgical scrubs. Wearing a surgical hat and a pair of surgical boots over her shoes, she enters the Operating area. There, she will observe the end of an orthodontic procedure.

DeMaranville is not a doctor, a nurse or even a hospital employee. She is a member of SM North’s Health Careers II class.

“I like it because everybody’s willing to ask questions and to learn,” Demaranville said. “We take it seriously, but we enjoy it a lot at the same time.”

The Orthopaedic Clinic

Senior Alexis Sosa has a different destination within the Truman Medical Center facility.

Sosa heads to the Orthopaedic clinic, where she will observe a number of patients receiving casts for various reasons.

In the waiting area, there is a buzz of conversation. The crowded room is teeming with people of all walks of life.

A patient in an exam room attempts to talk in broken English. Orthopaedic Technician Dave Moxley attempts to communicate to him that he cannot rotate his wrist anymore, to hold still until the cast can be set.

Sosa watches from the side of the room. As soon as the cast is set, Moxley cuts the elbow section of the cast to allow the patient greater mobility. As he finishes, still communicating with the patient, he pulls off his latex medical gloves and, similar to a rubber band, launches them with a loud snap into the trash can on the other side of the room.

With a break in the action, Moxley and Sosa move down to a casting room. Moxley invites Sosa to practice casting a wrist injury.

As Sosa wraps his arm in gauze, Moxley explains why Truman is a wise choice for students to observe surgical operations.

“It gives you more of a real world experience,” Moxley said. “It’s not as much ‘fluff’ as other hospitals.”

Moxley is referring to the fact that clinics at Truman  accept all ranges of patients, medical insurance or not, for treatment. They deny no one treatment at their facilities.

In the meantime, Sosa is getting ready to start the actual casting process. Moxley reminds her to wear medical gloves as she prepares to wrap his arm.

It is precisely this hands-on type of activity which Sosa enjoys about this rotation in Health Careers.

“I actually got to do stuff at this (rotation),” Sosa said.

Volunteer Services

Back in Volunteer Services, hospital patients and visitors passing by in the hallway stop in to ask for a book, wheelchair or directions to another location in the facility.

Senior Stephany Godwin was scheduled to spend time observing in the Emergency Room, but her partner was absent. Instead, she worked with hospital volunteers for the day, answering phones and even bringing a patient a sock to cover her recently-casted leg. In the ER the day before, she observed a stomach pump operation.

Godwin described her experiences at Truman as positive.

“It has a lot of interesting things that you’ll see,” Godwin said. “I love it, because most of the people down here let us do stuff.”

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The rain fell steadily all around, but the interior of Truman Medical Center bustled with activity.

According to Volunteer Services Coordinator Gayle Gravenstein, Truman is one of the busiest hospitals in the area. They see nearly 500 Emergency Room patients a day by Gravenstein’s estimates, and nearly 200 babies are born in the hospital per month.  This is the highest rate of any hospital in the Kansas City Metro area.

All this action makes Truman a good place for the students to learn, according to Gravenstein.

“It’s (Health Careers) is a good opportunity for them,” Gravenstein says. “They’re all very intelligent and nice kids.”