Nick Burwick, MD,1 and David Shepard, MD2
2010-01-01
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, University of Michigan
This year’s High School Student
Symposium was held at the New
Orleans Marriott on December
3, prior to the 51st ASH Annual
Meeting. The symposium, which
is organized by the Committee on Training Programs with
assistance from the ASH Trainee Council, exposes local
high school students to the field of hematology and raises
awareness of hematology-related career choices. The program
uses hands-on activities to teach students about the
diagnosis and management of sickle cell anemia. Student
groups are also asked to put together an educational poster
about sickle cell anemia to present at the symposium. At
the conclusion of the program, the winners of the scientific
poster presentations are awarded $1,500 for first place,
$1,000 for second place, and $750 for third.
This year, high school students from McMain and
McDonogh 35 took part in the half-day program. In addition,
two local high school students affected by sickle
cell anemia — Justin, 15, and Julius, 14 — kindly shared
their experiences with their peers. Renee Gardner, MD,
who is their hematologist and the director of the Sickle
Cell Clinics at the New Orleans Children’s Hospital,
accompanied them and discussed sickle cell anemia
pathophysiology with the group.
Justin and Julius have both stayed active despite their
disease. Justin, who is a sophomore at Riverdale High
School in Jefferson, LA, is the starting shooting guard for
the basketball team. He receives transfusions monthly, but he says he does not feel limited. “I know I have to try hard
not to become dehydrated, but other than that I feel like
a regular kid.” He wants to become an anesthesiologist.
Julius attends Brother Martin High School in New Orleans.
He has been in and out of the hospital six times in the last
year for fevers and sickle cell pain issues. However, he
also plays basketball and is on two teams. When asked
how it feels to live with sickle cell disease, Julius responded,
“It has helped me to become [mentally] stronger
and to get through things.”
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The day started with an introductory lecture about pursuing
a medical career. Charles Scher, MD, chief of pediatric
hematology-oncology at Tulane Cancer Center, then gave
students an introduction to sickle cell anemia. Following
this, the students broke into small-group sessions, consisting
of activities such as “Make my DNA,” in which
Amgen scientists taught students how to precipitate
DNA; “Life is a Crapshoot,” in which they learned about
Mendelian inheritance through an interactive dice game;
and an interactive session on abnormal platelet activation
in sickle cell patients presented by Chrono-Log.
Rebecca Kruse-Jarres, MD, MPH, director of the Adult Sickle
Cell program at Tulane University, led a small-group session
on hemoglobin electrophoresis. Students were given the
opportunity to use a micropipette to load gels. The students
were then challenged to interpret gel patterns to differentiate
normal AA hemoglobin from SS, SC, and SA (sickle trait)
hemoglobins. “I wanted to participate [in the symposium]
with the hope that the students could see a glimpse of the world that would be exciting to them. The students seemed
to be very engaged and a fun group to teach.”
Areah Bocage, a calculus and geometry teacher representing
McDonogh 35, said she brought her students to open
their eyes to possible career paths. “Due to their socioeconomic
status and surroundings, they are not exposed to
career options like this.”
The students had a chance to present posters they had
prepared on topics ranging from “Sickle Cell and Gene
Therapy” to “Alleviating a Sickle Cell Crisis.” Jennifer Lee,
18, whose McMain science club team placed first in the
poster competition said, “This is exhilarating. This is the
first competition we have entered.”
Minhvan, a 16 year-old senior also from McMain said, “It’s
rare to get these opportunities.”
Nearly all of the students reported that they knew very
little about sickle cell anemia and the field of hematology
before this event. Trachelle, 16, from McDonogh 35 said
she had not heard of hematology previously and was interested
in learning about new aspects of science. She is
considering a career in pharmacy.
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Although many meeting attendees might be unaware of the
High School Student Symposium, it affords an opportunity
to expose local students from underserved areas to the field
of hematology. This early exposure can have a profound impact
on these students as they consider their future career
choices. At the beginning of the program, students were
challenged to consider a career in science and medicine and
to have a positive impact on their local communities. By the
end of the symposium, many students expressed a new interest
in hematology and a new understanding of sickle cell
anemia. By any measure, it was a success!
If you have questions about the High School Student
Symposium, contact training@hematology.org.
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