By LORI TUCKER
6 News Anchor/Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - You could call it a mini-medical school for high school students.
UT Medical Center's Medical Explorations Program is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Forty students, most in high school and some in college, are graduating from the six-week summer program.
The students wore lab coats, learned how to research medical topics like Lyme Disease and HIV, and most importantly, learned whether they want to pursue a career in the medical field.
"Before this program, I wanted to be actually an anesthesiologist, and during the program, I found out I kinda want to go toward oral surgery," said Rusty Baldwin, a rising senior at South Doyle High School.
Dr. John Narro is one of the mentors in the program. He and other doctors take students on their rounds.
"I got to see a couple kidney transplants," said Abigail Cacace. "It just really fascinated me and I love solving puzzles and helping people, and for me, surgery was both of those in one."
Cacace says she has decided to become a surgeon.
The program takes place once a month.
At a recent celebration of Medical Explorations' 20-year milestone, a special keynote speaker talked about the early days.
Dr. Brooks Davis Hagee, now a pediatrician in San Antonio, Texas, helped start the program when she was just a sophomore at West High School in Knoxville.
It began when UT Dr. Mitchell Goldman paid a visit to the then-16 year old's physiology class.
"I had an idea I wanted to go into medicine, but when I heard him speak that day, it just really drove it home for me," said Dr. Davis remembered. "I asked him just to be my mentor and he said yes."
Today, Dr. Goldman shrugs and says, "She pushed me a lot. Brooks knows what she wants."
Dr. Goldman made good on his mentoring promise, and before he knew it, his young protege had four other students lined up for a monthly mentoring meeting at the hospital.
Today, the program has 40 students. In all, 440 have taken part in the last 20 years.
"I just think that we were so lucky that day to meet him and for him to come and speak to our class because it really did change our lives," said Dr. Hagee. "It changed my life."
The Medical Explorations program is funded by grant money through the Cole Foundation and other private donations. If you are interested in supporting the program or taking part in it, call (865) 305-9244.
Not every student is accepted. To qualify students must have good grades and meet other stipulations.
