Health Sciences Club Visits Nassau University Medical Center

By Natalie Montufar ’17:
On Wednesday, February 21, eight seniors from the Health Sciences Club took a trip to Nassau University Medical Center for a unique shadowing opportunity. It was overall an incredible, eye-opening perspective of the medical field.
My classmates and I first spent the beginning portion of the morning in a meeting room with the chiefs and chairmen of the Nursing Department and the Emergency Medicine Department. They told short narratives of why they chose to go into medicine, and they also gave us a feel for their everyday tasks.
We then split up into two groups; two thirds of us went with the Emergency Medicine Physicians, and the other third went with the Nursing Department. I was assigned with the Emergency Medicine Physicians. The two doctors which were directing us were Dr. Anthony Boutin and Dr. Dean Olsen. My group later attended a lecture on smoke inhalation and toxicology. We learned about the differences between carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning, how to treat patients with either poison in their bodies, and we reviewed many past medical cases on these poisons.
We later had lunch with a group of residents, and surprisingly we had a lot in common. After lunch, we were given a tour of the Emergency Room, and the doctors explained how they would go through a general procedure. Our short trip to Nassau University Medical Center gave all of us students a distinct and up close view of the medical field. It greatly helped us see whether or not medicine is the correct path for us in the near future.