UAB Mini Medical School provides a series of virtual and in-person experiences.
Published: April 27, 2024
Shaundra Blakemore, M.D., and Brian Sims, M.D., Ph.D., were once students in the Birmingham City Schools system with a passion for science. After college, they transformed their passions into careers by attending medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Fast forward, and they are returning to BCS classrooms to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Launched in 2022 by the UAB Department of Pediatrics and administered through community engagement in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, the UAB Mini Medical School provides a series of virtual and in-person experiences to increase middle school students’ exposure to science, technology, engineering, and math careers, with a particular focus on health care.
After a successful first year with 25 students from across the Birmingham and Jefferson County areas, UAB partnered with Birmingham City Schools to expand the program for the 2023-2024 school year. They now have programming during the school day for 60 Birmingham City School students. Their partnership with the YMCA has continued to reach out to students beyond BCS during the after-school hours.
In each session, students are immersed in a different area of the healthcare field. Professionals from each field help guide a hands-on lesson and answer questions about their educations and career journeys. Professionals including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, poison control experts and forensic scientists have volunteered with the program.
During sessions, the students take part in a variety of hands-on activities, including performing CPR and intubating lifelike manikins, obtaining vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure, venipuncture using a lifelike model, learning the importance of healthy meals and making their own healthy snacks, and much more.
Besides monthly in-person sessions, the UAB Mini Medical School holds monthly virtual sessions where students hear from healthcare professionals from around the country, including a pediatric surgeon, a dermatologist, family medicine, neonatologists, pediatricians, and many more. All speakers had a relationship with UAB at some point in their careers, whether training or previous faculty.
The UAB Mini Medical School partnered with the UAB summer program Center for Community Outreach and Development to encourage students to continue their science learning even when school is out via their summer camp offerings. During the 2023-24 program, students enjoyed a Saturday field trip to the UAB and Children’s Pediatric Simulation Center. This year, the simulation center came to the students to bring their lifelike skills stations to the students.
The UAB Mini Medical School hosts sessions once a month. BCS students have the option to attend sessions during the school day. The program also offers an after-school session that is open to all middle school students.
Applications for the 2024-2025 school year will open in August 2024. To learn more about the program and apply, click here.