Lakeland Regional High School’s Bio-Medicine, Exercise Science, and Physical Therapy UPAL students attended a live surgery event at the Liberty Science Center on April 20, 2023.

The Liberty Science Center’s Live Surgery program offers students a unique opportunity to peer into the operating room and watch medical experts teach and perform. The learning experience exposes students to important skills used in jobs such as biotechnology and medical science. Medical experts are able to inspire and visually teach students about what really occurs during a brain surgery.

Sophomore Luke Schroeder, who attended The Liberty Science Center’s Live Surgery program, shared, “I learned [about] the regions of the brain and how they interact with one another. Some parts of your brain can be missing or partially destroyed but still function enough to keep you living. This in some cases requires attention and in that case, the brain tumor removed at the surgery can be deadly if not treated properly.”

Students who attended this trip were interested in biotechnology and medical science and wanted a hands-on learning experience. Schroeder says, “Students were selected based on their school career path and the relevancy of the information in the surgery to that path.”

Students were able to ask neurosurgeons questions after watching the surgery. Programs like these widely expose students to a range of career opportunities in biotechnology and medical science, that otherwise, they may not consider. It’s beneficial for students to learn about different careers from the perspective of the people working in them.

Schroeder agreed that this experience was informational and says, “The Liberty Science Center’s Live Surgery Program was educational and fascinating. My favorite experience was touring around the Liberty Science Center and having the opportunity to see all the technologies being invented by top researchers. I believe it provided an important opportunity to those interested in biotechnology because who knows, one of us may have been drawn to it.”

UPAL stands for University Programs at Lakeland, and offers LRHS students a wide range of options to prepare them for specific fields of study, which include opportunities like the live surgery field trip. This unique experience has opened the eyes of many students and further educated them on a career they may have overlooked.