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UMHS Students Inspire St. Kitts Kids to Become Doctors at Newton Ground Primary School Career Day

Posted by Scott Harrah
May 20, 2014

UMHS students Ludny Charles, Andrew Victor and Chyanne M. Brown took a break from their studies to help inspire the children of Newton Ground Primary School in St. Kitts on Thursday, May 8, 2014. The event educated the kids about various careers available, and these three generous, caring UMHS students informed the little ones about why they might wish to become doctors when they grow up.

LEARNING HOW A STETHOSCOPE WORKS: UMHS student Chyanne M. Brown with one of the kids. Photo: Ludny Charles

LEARNING HOW A STETHOSCOPE WORKS: UMHS student Chyanne M. Brown with one of the kids. Photo: Ludny Charles

The UMHS Pulse spoke with Ludny Charles, Andrew Victor and Chyanne M. Brown about this fun event. The following interview contains the combined responses of all three students from UMHS, one of the  best Caribbean medical schools.

UMHS PULSE: Tell us about Career Day at Newton Ground Primary School. Is this an annual event?

LUDNY CHARLES, ANDREW VICTOR & CHYANNE M. BROWN: This was their first career day at the school. From our understanding, this will now be an annual event.

How were the three of you involved with Newton Ground Primary School Career Day?

At a career fair, we were able to see a number of different professions, ranging from electricians, to health care professionals, from army to construction and law. Each profession had a booth set up with a display to talk about that particular career. Our school set up a booth and brought along healthcare pamphlets on different diseases, a sphygmomanometer, and a diabetes testing kit. We set up to measure anyone's blood pressure and glucose levels (adults only, of course). With the children, we taught them how to introduce themselves to a patient and showed them how to calculate pulse. One of the things they were really interested in was learning how to use the stethoscope. We let each child practice on a fellow student, which they were very excited about. There were some students who began teaching others. Before you know it, little future police officers, lawyers and secretaries surrounded our table to learn some techniques. We convinced a few to consider medicine as a career.

An extra highlight of the event was when Andrew joined in on a soccer game with the kids. The kids loved this part of the day.

SOCCER GAME: The kids enjoyed playing soccer with UMHS student Andrew Victor. Photo: Ludny Charles

SOCCER GAME: The kids enjoyed playing soccer with UMHS student Andrew Victor. Photo: Ludny Charles

Why is it important for UMHS students to get out and help the people of St. Kitts, particularly the children?

We all had a great time at the event and would definitely do it again in the future. It first helps introduce ourselves (UMHS) to people in the community as many are not familiar with our school. We also want to show the people of the island that we are here to give back to the community during our short stay on the island. It proved to be beneficial because the children and staff were all so appreciative and polite. This made the experience a lot better. What was especially touching about this event was seeing the enthusiasm in their faces; they were so eager to learn what we had to teach them. We were once in their shoes, so it was great to pay it forward by providing the encouragement for them to push toward their dreams. We are so used to the sitting in lecture and lab all day long that it was fun to be able to do something different for a change. Giving back to the community always makes you feel good about yourself, but this experience reaffirmed to us why we want to be doctors.

MORE PHOTOS OF UMHS STUDENTS AT THE EVENT

DOCTOR BASICS 101: Andrew Victor (pictured), Ludny Charles & Chyanne M. Brown taught the kids how to introduce themselves to a patient & calculate a pulse. Photo: Ludny Charles

DOCTOR BASICS 101: Andrew Victor (pictured), Ludny Charles & Chyanne M. Brown taught the kids how to introduce themselves to a patient & calculate a pulse. Photo: Ludny Charles

FUTURE DOCTOR INSPIRES THE KIDS: UMHS student Chyanne M. Brown teaches the kids about the important daily duties of a doctor. Photo: Ludny Charles.

FUTURE DOCTOR INSPIRES THE KIDS: UMHS student Chyanne M. Brown teaches the kids about the important daily duties of a doctor. Photo: Ludny Charles.

UMHS STUDENTS GIVING TO THE COMMUNITY: A UMHS banner at Newton Ground Primary School Career Day on May 8, 2014. Photo: Ludny Charles.

UMHS STUDENTS GIVING TO THE COMMUNITY: A UMHS banner at Newton Ground Primary School Career Day on May 8, 2014. Photo: Ludny Charles.

 

(Top photo) FUN & INSPIRATION: UMHS student Andrew Victor meets with some little friends at Newton Ground Primary School Career Day. Photo: Ludny Charles


About UMHS:

Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciencesfocuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, “personalized medical education,” and it’s what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. UMHS is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.

Posted by Scott Harrah

Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.

Topics: Campus

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