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Students Learn Anatomy And Physiology

UPMC Chautauqua School of Radiology Lead Instructor Amanda Bender talks to JHS Anatomy & Physiology students.

“They are all used to image the body but they are all done in different ways,” said Amanda Bender, UPMC School of Radiology’s Lead Clinical Instructor. “Ultrasound doesn’t use any radiation at all, it uses sound waves. MRI uses a magnet, so every way can look at the body differently. It may view soft tissue or bone or brain tissue better so depending on what the patient’s concern is, the doctor would order different types of exams.”

Bender talked to Jamestown High School students in Amy Siderits’ Anatomy and Physiology class during a recent field trip to UPMC Chautauqua. The class visited the School of Radiology with a presentation on health and imaging careers by UPMC Chautauqua Program Director Christina Slojkowski.

“This was the first time I took the students to UPMC Chautauqua,” said Siderits. “I hope it allows students to see opportunities that are available to them locally as well as in the health field and how what they are learning in Anatomy and Physiology applies to real-world settings. I hope to take them back to UPMC Chautauqua at some point to see the lab, in particular the histology lab. I am willing to take them elsewhere and I am in the starting phases of developing those connections to the organizations in our community, since this is the first year we have offered this class.

Anatomy and Physiology is currently an upper-level, college-prep elective class at Jamestown High School. Many students struggle with Anatomy and Physiology at the college/university level, so JHS introduced this class in hopes of helping some of its students be more successful. The curriculum mirrors a college Anatomy and Physiology class.

Anatomy and Physiology is a full-year upper-level science class that provides a third science credit. In order to enroll in Anatomy and Physiology, students must have successfully completed the Living Environment and Regents Chemistry courses and have an interest in the health sciences. The course focuses on a more complete understanding of the basic principles of the human body and its functions. Students with interests in the health professions are introduced to concepts that will provide them a foundation for further studies. Students complete laboratory work that provides a better understanding of the different tissue types and organ system functions in the human body. Students are currently going through each body system, learning the organs and the function and role of each for the system and overall body interactions. They spend time on disorders or diseases of the system and how these are treated and prevented.

“The class is important at JHS because I hope to prepare our students to be successful in their pursuit of a career path that requires anatomy and physiology at the college level,” said Siderits.

“I also want to provide students an opportunity to be exposed to anatomy and physiology in order to decide whether this path is the correct one for them to follow, before they are paying tuition costs. I am also the co-adviser to the JHS Pre-Med Health Science Academy and we hear from our graduates that anatomy and physiology is a class they struggle with and feel like they are behind their peers at college who have taken it in high school. I hope that offering this class at JHS ‘levels the playing field’ for our graduates in some highly competitive programs or better prepares them to reach their goals.”

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