Good Samaritan hosts career day, students try their hand at robotic-assisted surgery
Good Samaritan Medical Center held the hospital’s first robotics career day on October 20. More than 40 students from Boulder County high schools attended to get a first-hand look at the future of healthcare. The goal was to get high schoolers excited about and interested in careers in medicine.
Representatives from Medtronic, Stryker and Intuitive gave live demonstrations about how surgical robots work, discussed the benefits for patients, and allowed students to ask questions. The students were invited to try their hands at three robots – the Da Vinci, the Mako and the Mazur.
“I’ve known I was going to be a veterinarian since I was four years old, but I wanted to see this environment from a health professional perspective and look at my career options,” said Virgil Berube, a junior at Boulder TEC. “This was an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at healthcare that I wouldn’t have gotten in a classroom. Learning about how incorporating robots into surgery increases the precision and reduces the number of errors was really cool.”
Students also participated in skills labs and workshops in CPR, stop the bleed wound care, IV flushes, CV stents and echocardiograms. Panels were held with speakers from multiple departments to immerse the students in the different roles in healthcare.
“We want to create a bridge from classroom learning to real-world, hands-on application with the hope that this career day will inspire students to consider careers in medicine,” said Dawn Anuszkiewicz, Good Samaritan president. “Our goal is to show them that they can take their passions in tech, medicine, science or caring for people and turn them into jobs in healthcare.”
Jose Zamora, a high school senior at Boulder TEC, originally planned to go into biology, but after taking a course in genetic counseling, he realized he wanted to pursue a career path in medicine. He says he enjoys helping people and discovered he’s very good at it.
“I came to the robotics event because I wanted to open new pathways and look at different fields in healthcare,” said Jose. “It was all very interesting and informative, and I loved using the robots. I had no idea they had the capabilities that they do.”
“We’re harnessing the brightest minds of the next generation to build healthcare of the future,” Dawn said. “Inspiring youth in all of our communities to consider a career in medicine goes a long way toward fulfilling our mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible.”
On October 19, Good Samaritan also hosted a robotic-assisted surgery open house for local community partners. Guests took part in live demonstrations and hands-on interactions with the robots. They also met with surgical experts, delving deep into patient success stories, and explored the surgeries that have been revolutionized through this technology.
Good Samaritan has been a Center of Excellence for Robotic Surgery since 2006.