MSBS hosts community service symposium MSBS students present educational posters at the fall Community Service Symposium
T
he first-year Masters of Biomedical Sciences students wrapped up their fall semester in December by presenting educational posters at the MSBS Community Service Symposium. The Special Topics II course allows students to gain hands-on service experience through working with organizations in the local community. Students are required to complete 30 hours of volunteer work over the course of the semester and present educational posters on their projects. “[Professional schools] are often looking at academic performance, service, research, and clinical exposure, and [our curriculum] provides that," said Terence Mitchell, Ph.D., course director for Special Topics II. “We wanted to add a course to the program that [directly] meets the community service aspect.” Students serve and partner with many First-year MSBS students Alexandra Miranda, Darrica Byrd, and Daniel VanRooyen varied organizations where they can presenting their educational poster at the fall Community Service Symposium. do something they’re passionate about. Working with an organization for “It was really cool because even though there was a language an extended period of time throughout the semester allows barrier we all got along really well,” said Byrd. “We had so students to gain depth and understanding of the needs in much fun seeing and working with the kids.” society with regard to their chosen topic of study. She went on to share how her group studied different types First-year students Alexandra Miranda, BS, Darrica Byrd, of premature birth – the causes, the treatment, the risks, and BS, and Daniel VanRooyen, BS, are all interested in pediatrics the injury possibilities and how the service aspect connected and worked together to research and present their poster to their other courses and the research component of titled Clinical Correlations of Preterm Birth and Cognitive the project. Defects in Newborns. However, throughout the semester they each partnered with a different organization for the Alexandra Miranda agreed saying, “We took embryology community service aspect of the project. at the beginning of the semester and we learned about the different developmental defects and impairments that As part of his project, Daniel VanRooyen mixed his creative preterm babies [can experience] and this kind of tied it all side with his passion for pediatrics. together - what we learned about in embryology and now the clinical correlation.” “For my project, Tentacles for Preemies, I crocheted small stuffed octopi to donate to NICU babies,” shared VanRooyen. Special Topics II – a course focused specifically on “The idea behind it is that it gives a preterm baby something community service – isn’t designed to just increase else to pull at instead of their tubes, and it helps stimulate professional school application numbers. It’s designed to give them physically.” students exposure to working with rural and underserved populations, which is the heartbeat of the mission of the Alexandra Miranda and Darrica Byrd spent their semester Campbell’s School of Medicine. volunteering in two local elementary schools. Miranda worked with the ESL program at Boone Trail Elementary “The most important goal for this [course] is to help students and Byrd worked one-on-one with second graders on reading gain interest in working with those in need," said Dr. Mitchell. comprehension at Buies Creek Elementary. She also had the "We hope it provides the impetus for continued lifelong opportunity to work alongside a medical mission team in service to underserved communities." Guatemala diagnosing and treating children while working -SHELLEY HOBBS with the children’s ministry. 8 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019
