AIMS 2011 SUMMER WORKSHOPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

This year Adventures In Medicine and Science (AIMS) is hosting 2 week-long summer workshops for high school students. During both workshops students attend at least one live surgery in an area hospital. Admissions are competitive, and many graduates of this program which was started in 1993 are already at work in the field of medicine.

The AIMS Summer Workshop takes place from June 20-24, 2011 and features physicians and professionals from various medical specialties who present programs in their areas of expertise through 3-D presentations, hands-on laboratory experiences, case studies and group discussions. Participants will be introduced to a variety of health care careers including Physical Therapy, Pediatrics, Respiratory Therapy and others. This year more than 60 students will attend from the St. Louis area, and from states including North Carolina and Colorado, in addition to international students from Holland and Mexico.

The Surgical Procedures Workshop takes place from July 11-15, 2011. Students will participate in programs focusing on the latest developments in microsurgery, minimally invasive surgery and other innovative techniques presented by practicing surgeons in the St. Louis metropolitan area who volunteer to inspire the next generation of physicians.

The AIMS program will also conduct a special workshop for college-aged pre-med students in conjunction with the Alpha Epsilon Delta national pre-mad honors society. Researchers and physicians from throughout the SLU medical school campus will open their laboratories and practices for these students to gain exposure to their future careers.

Adventures In Medicine & Science (AIMS) will partner with the St. Louis Science Center to conduct their Family Medical School Program. The program, in its fifth year, will take place from 6-8pm in the evenings and will offer opportunities for students 5th grade and up an opportunity to participate in hands-on programming such as pig heart and sheep brain dissections in the Zeiss Laboratory at the PASE Learning Center. 

AIMS is pleased to partner with the Science Center in providing opportunities for young people to explore medical careers with their parents.

2012 program dates will be scheduled in fall, 2011 for the months of January, February, March and April.  Please visit the AIMS website at aims.slu.edu for more information.

New in 2012 for AIMS in partnership with the St. Louis Science Center will be a special program to augment their summer Body Worlds exhibit.  On September 20, 2011 AIMS will conduct ‘The Amazing Human Body’ program to young people with an interest in further exploration into anatomy.  Contact the St. Louis Science Center for more information or to register for the program.

Adventures In Medicine and Science (AIMS) has been at the forefront of teaching technology since 1998 when they started a distance learning program. Now, ten years later the program is able to embrace the newest high definition technology for teaching students across the globe about anatomy and science.

AIMS was the recipient of a generous gift from the Partners for the Advancement for Surgical Education (PASE) to install a new Polycom HDX7004 videoconferencing unit that enables programs to be broadcast in high definition. The equipment which is mobile will allow AIMS to broadcast from anywhere in the PASE facility.

In the 2010-2011 school year, AIMS conducted more than 250 distance learning programs across the United States, as well as in Canada and Ireland.

Distance learning program session conducted with the use of the new high definition video system below:

The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), an organization which promotes learning advancement through videoconferencing and other collaborative techniques, recognizes outstanding performances by content providers throughout the world with an annual award. Based upon teacher evaluations on the programs (and presenters) offered by Adventures In Medicine and Science. AIMS has been the recipient of the Pinnacle Award for programs presented in the 2008-09 school year and the 2009-10 school year.

AIMS scored among the top 20 out of more than 140 content providers the past two school years.  Because of the quality of AIMS programming, distance learning programs have more than doubled in the past two years.