Through a collaborative effort by the University of Louisville, Greater Louisville Medical Society and the Louisville Women in Medicine and Science (L-WIMS), students participated in a variety of health-sciences sessions at the Kentucky Science Center.

Dr. Sara Petruska and two third-year medical students, along with Kevin Martin, director of the Paris Simulation Center, conducted an OB/GYN workshop and demonstration utilizing the Lucina Delivery Mannequin. Petruska serves as the steering committee chair for L-WIMS and also as its designated representative to the Group of Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Martin has participated in the R!L program at the Kentucky Science Center for at least three years.

“I always enjoy speaking with future students and having the Science Center as a backdrop is nice,” he said.

In addition to the simulator work session, the students participated in a variety of activities, including: 

• Galvanized Skin Response (GSR): A reaction demonstration whereby students were connected to a device that monitored their GSR level as they were exposed to both scary and soothing images.
• See Your DNA: Students extracted DNA from their saliva using salt water, dish soap and alcohol.
• Anatomy of Vision: Students were provided visual models and engaged in discussion about visual sciences to learn more about their own vision. 
• MakerPlace 3D Pen Cardiac Design-Build: Students were challenged to create a device that could help clear clogged arteries and used 3D pens to connect the “arteries.” 
• Heart Monitoring Technology: Students were shown the latest in heart-monitoring technology.

“Compassion is the chief reason we all go into medicine,” Kerzin said. “Research suggests at the third year of medical school, compassion in medical students decreases significantly. I’ll address how to sustain our compassion through our training and out in the world practicing medicine.”

The ceremony will welcome the class of 2020 to the UofL School of Medicine. The students each will receive a white coat, a gift of the Greater Louisville Medical Society, and a stethoscope, provided by an alumnus of the school through . The white coat symbolizes cleanliness, as well as the sense of compassion that inspires students to become physicians. At the ceremony, the students will recite the , promising to serve humanity and honor the traditions of the medical profession.

Kerzin, a California native, is a board-certified family medicine physician and an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine. He is a former assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. After traveling to India in the 1980s to help train Tibetan doctors in modern research methods, he studied Buddhism and meditation and ultimately was ordained as a Buddhist monk. Kerzin now provides medical care to the poor in India and serves as a personal physician to the Dalai Lama in addition to traveling around the world to teach about meditation and compassion. He founded the  with the goal to bring more compassion into health care.

UofL School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony
Sunday, July 24, 3-5 p.m.
Louisville Downtown Marriott
280 W. Jefferson St., Louisville, Ky., 40202