The partnership between Ohio State Lima and Mercy Health that brought Ohio State Lima’s anatomy lab to life for college students is reaching further down the educational path. High school students and their teachers are now also visiting the lab on a regular basis.
For most of the young visitors, it is the first chance to get a real feel for anatomy at a college level and a healthcare as a profession.
“It’s the hands-on cadaver lab experience,” said Bryan Albright, Ohio State Lima assistant dean of student and community engagement. “Almost none of these students have held or seen body organs let alone a human cadaver.”
The end goal of inviting high school students to visit is to highlight the local opportunities in both healthcare careers and education.
“We have some amazing students in our region—incredibly bright and talented. Our goal is to help them fall in love with healthcare so that they can one day join our staff and care for our community,” said Beth Keehn, director of government and community affairs at Mercy Health. “By partnering with Ohio State Lima, we can also help them see that their dreams and goals are within their reach if going away to school isn’t in their plans. They can get a great education locally that prepares them for a whole variety of healthcare career options.”
More than 200 anatomy and bio-med students in the region will spend the entire day at Mercy Health investigating health care careers and the cadaver lab on October 4. The day is full, but due to the popularity of the event more opportunities will be added.
