High School Alliance out in force for White Coat ceremony

Mohamad Hazim flashes a smile after donning his white coat.

The alliance was out in force this fall.

The High School Alliance, that is.

At the Aug. 20 UNMC College of Medicine White Coat Ceremony, seven incoming medical students were graduates of UNMC’s pre-health science program, which offers high school juniors and seniors a chance to learn from experts and practice hands-on skills.

The program, which is held during the school year, is an inside look at what it’s like to be a health care provider or researcher. Courses cover a range of health care topics, such as infectious diseases, anatomy and medical decision-making taught by UNMC faculty on the Omaha campus.

High School Alliance alums donning white coats at the college of medicine ceremony included:

  • Mohamad Hazim (Omaha Burke);
  • Winnie Ladu (Omaha Benson);
  • Alyssa Lawrence (Omaha Central);
  • Grace MacLeod (Millard West);
  • Grant Neuverth (Millard North);
  • Ramya Rengarajan (Millard North);
  • Roshan Sapkota (Westside); and
  • Grace Sullivan (Gretna).

The seven students tied for the most-ever High School Alliance graduates entering UNMC medical school in the same year. It’s enough to make program director Heidi Kaschke burst with pride.

“I’ve known these students since they were in high school,” she said. “I keep in touch with them. Now for them to finally reach their goal is full circle, and I am extremely excited for all of them and what they’re going to do with their medical degrees.”

Speaking before the ceremony, Hazim reflected on his UNMC High School Alliance experience.

“The High School Alliance was the first time that I’d stepped into the world of health care,” he said. “It really opened my eyes to the different avenues that I could take. I took a gross anatomy course, and that’s when I realized my love for biomedical science and the human body. That course is what set me on the path to medicine. So, I credit the High School Alliance to putting me on this path.”

That is exactly the kind of “eureka” moment the program is designed to elicit, Kaschke said.

“For many students, the anatomy class does that for them,” she said with a laugh. “All of the exams in the anatomy class are practicals; they have to know the structures on the cadaver. They have to memorize the vocabulary. How the content is presented in the anatomy class is unlike anything they’ve ever done before. It can be a transformative experience for a high school student.”

The other key class in the curriculum? Intro to Public Health, Kaschke said.

“For many students, that is the class that will really open their mind about ‘what is public health?’ and all of its different components — education, epidemiology, biostatistics. We cover the gamut of environmental to farm safety in that class, to epidemiology and virology and biostatistics.”

Kaschke, unfortunately, couldn’t be at the White Coat Ceremony. But, she said, she’ll see this High School Alliance group at their Match Day for sure.

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