Seventh- and eighth-grade students from Los Angeles-area schools will look at brain cells through microscopes, dress up in surgical scrubs, and perform simulated brain surgery when they visit the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 26.
The third annual Brainworks program will give students an opportunity to learn about science and anatomy while having fun, and perhaps give them an incentive to pursue careers as physicians, surgeons, nurses or research scientists.
"Students who came to the Brainworks programs the past two years really seemed to enjoy learning about the brain and interacting with our staff," said Keith L. Black, M.D., the world-renowned neurosurgeon who directs the Institute, the medical center's Division of Neurosurgery, and the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program. "This gives us an opportunity to show them what it's like to work in research and in patient care. We hope the experience will allow them to see how exciting science is, how fascinating the brain is, and help them imagine themselves working in a similar environment."
Intrigued by the sciences in his youth, Keith Black often rode his bike to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he wandered into research laboratories to watch scientists work. At age 17, his first research paper was published and he won the Westinghouse Science Award.
Students who attend Brainworks will be able to have their pictures taken with Dr. Black, meet surgeons, pathologists, researchers, nurses, social workers and other professionals at the Institute, and hear presentations about the rewards of working in the sciences. They will also see actual surgical instruments and learn how they work, watch as tissue samples are prepared for laboratory exams, and get a close-up view of the brains of sheep.
To help them understand the challenges faced by patients who have suffered neurological illnesses or injuries -- and the efforts of reha
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Contact: Sandra Van
877-807-5200
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
17-May-2000