Creighton University’s “Mini Med School” โinspires Young Students to Consider Healthcare โCareers
OMAHA,โ Neb. – Creighton Universityโ is working to cultivate the next generation of healthcare professionals through its annualโฃ “mini medical school” program, aiming to addressโค critical needs within the medical field. The program recently hosted an event for โ4th โgradeโข students, offering hands-on experiences designed to spark an early interest in science and medicine.
Students like Madison Woodberry and winnie Spurlock from Cottonwoodโ Elementary School participated in activities such as extracting DNA from โstrawberries – a “goopy” and “gross” but โultimately fun experiment, according to Woodberry.
“It is important to expose themโ early because many โtimes they โขdo not getโฃ this exposure โคuntil they get later on in school,” explained Creighton Senior Associate Dean Dr. Ronn Johnson. “Until that time it’s almost too late for them to get intoโฃ the kind of โthings they need โtoโ be doing early on in their educational โขexperiences.”
The event wasn’tโ limited to lab work; students also explored anatomical models and engaged with healthcare professionals. Dr. Johnson โขhighlightedโฃ the program’s focus on โreaching underrepresented communities, stating, “We have two diffrentโฃ populations โthat we serve, we have the urban population and the โคruralโ population. Those are typically underrepresented โฃcommunities that actually need to have more โdoctors, nurses and other healthcare professionalsโค involved in providing services.”
Now โin itsโ fifth year, the “mini med school” program has already proven impactful.Audrey Zahng,โฃ a second-year Creighton medical student, credits a similar event from her childhood with igniting โher passion for medicine. โ”It definitely led to that spark that drove me to pursue and gotโ me interested in medicine,” she said.
The program is already inspiring the current cohortโข ofโฃ students. Madison Woodberry shared her motivation, citing her mother, a nurse, โas an inspiration: โฃ”How she can just help all of these people that are in needโฆAnd how you canโฃ get all theseโค people to beโค unsick and it just feels โฃgood to be helping.”โ Winnie Spurlock expressed โฃa growing interest in the science behind medicine, saying, “I have alwaysโข been interested in the scienceโค of medicine, and I feel likeโ its just really fascinating the way it works.”
Moreโ than 60 students from the โOmaha metroโค area participated inโฃ the recent event. Creighton University plansโ to host two additional “mini med school”โ sessions this year, targeting middle and high school students. The university currentlyโฃ serves approximately 250 students annually through seven one-day sessions โand aims to increase that number to 1,000 students per โคyear.
