Aspiring medical students put their scalpels – and stomachs – to the test when they dissected animal organs to learn more about the human body. More than 40 talented students were invited to give up a week of their summer holiday to learn new skills and the live operating theatre session was a must for would-be doctors and surgeons.
The phrase pulling on your heartstrings was never more appropriate than when students at a city school scrubbed up for theatre and carried out a series of operations.
The youngsters, who have all been identified as high achievers at The Bemrose School, in Uttoxeter New Road, were invited into school during the summer holiday to take part in Operating Theatre Live – an interactive science experience.
Bemrose pupils getting hands on experience!
To gain a better understanding of anatomy and physiology pupils were given a set of organs from a pig – the nearest anatomically to a human body – which would otherwise have been incinerated.
Instead, the pupils from years nine and 11 were able to explore how the organs worked, what could go wrong with them and how to identify certain features such as the chordae tendineae – otherwise known as the heart strings.
The session was aimed at giving teenagers interested in studying anatomy, medicine or pathology a chance to take on the role of trauma doctors bringing the systems of the human body alive through dissections.
The day began with a briefing about their 28-year-old ‘patient’ Carl who had been involved in a motorcycle accident and in small groups of four or five students worked on a mannequin, preparing him for surgery.
They went through his injuries which included pneumothorax – a collapsed lung – and calculated how much anaesthesia to use on the patient, before injecting it into its hand using a canula. They then intubated a real larynx, using intubation tools, before dissecting the trachea to learn the anatomy of the airway and lungs.
Holly Taylor, a clinician from Operating Theatre Live, was overseeing the operations. She said: “Once the students intubated Carl they moved on to conduct an airway dissection of the trachea, where they could learn the anatomy of the airway, lungs and surrounding pleural membranes.
“They could see the diaphragm and intercostal muscles as well as the anatomy of the thoracic cage. They were then able to dissect and inflate the lungs and carry out a repair to restore adequate ventilation and identify the voicebox and oesophagus.
“We use pig organs because they have evolved to eat the same things as humans and they do the same thing in the ecosystem. Anatomically they are very similar, their organs – particularly their stomach and intestines – are just a bit bigger than a human.
“The students were slightly taken aback at first but they have taken real pride in what they are doing and have been brilliantly enthusiastic.”
After lunch, pupils were told that although Carl’s breathing had stabilised a scan had shown a significant abdominal bleed and they needed to address his falling blood pressure.
They were given a heart, aorta and digestive system and were able to follow a step by step process to discover the chambers of the heart, the liver, gall bladder and pancreas.
Twins Beih and Anyim.
Among the students taking part were 15-year-old twins Anyim and Beih Ndeta-Mokom, who hope to follow in their midwife mother’s medical footsteps.
Anyim said: “I really want to be a doctor, specialising in paediatrics, and I definitely want to go to medical school after I’ve done A-Levels. So this event is brilliant for me as it’s not often you get to do anything hands-on at this age.
“I come from Africa and a lot of people over there don’t get these sort of opportunities, so if I do become a doctor I can go back there and share my skills.”
Beih added: “I am really, really enjoying this. First, we were given a fake human body and we had to clean it and give it the right amount of anaesthetic in preparation for the operation. Then we started dissecting the organs which was a bit gruesome but dead interesting.
“Our uncle is a surgeon in Italy and mum is a midwife so I might decide to go into medicine, but law also interests me. So, I’m keeping my options open.”
Operating Theatre Live was launched in 2019 after it was pitched on TV’s Dragons Den, winning a £90,000 investment from Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden.
As well as giving pupils a hands-on tour of the human anatomy the session allowed them to learn the basics of other clinical skills such as interpreting X-rays and linking symptoms to clinical diagnosis.
Thirteen-year-old Krista Oduro said: “I’ve really, really enjoyed learning about the human body – especially the bit where we got to dissect the heart and lungs.
“It does smell a bit, but it’s not too bad, and it’s so interesting that you forget the smell after a while.”
Fifteen-year-old Ben Kniveton has set his heart on becoming an American footballer, but thought the session was helpful in understanding how to stay fit and healthy.
He added: “I much prefer practical education like this because it’s so much easier to understand things you can see and touch, rather than reading about it in a textbook.”
Executive head teacher Neil Wilkinson said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the children who have been placed on our Scholar’s Programme because they have been identified as our top performing students.
“Having real specimens to handle will inevitably help science students with elements that are hard to visualise, and I have no doubt they will remember the session since it was such a unique experience.
“They certainly needed a strong stomach, and it wasn’t for the faint-hearted, but for the students who were willing to roll up their sleeves and quite literally get stuck in it was a learning opportunity not to be missed.”
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