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Medical students and faculty volunteer as tour guides for public school students at Body Worlds exhibit

Jacob Wood, Gus King and Elliot Evans get a lesson on anatomy from medical student Reggie Gaylord.

On Thursday, May 18, University of Colorado School of Medicine alumnus and clinical faculty member, Dr. Ahmed Stowers (MD ‘88), arranged for more than 100 students from the Denver Public School’s Denver School for Science and Technology (DSST) to attend the Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The students toured the exhibit in small groups with a CU School of Medicine faculty member or medical student.

DSST is a diverse school made up of students who are 42 percent African American; 32.1 percent Caucasian; 19.8 percent Latino; 6.1 percent Asian; and 0.8 percent Native American. As a physician of color, Dr. Stowers felt strongly about providing this opportunity to this particular Denver public school with a large minority population and a specific interest in science. He recruited more than 20 School of Medicine faculty physicians and medical students, many of them representing ethnicities that are under-represented in medicine, to provide these students with the opportunity to understand the human body, medicine and a career in medicine.

Tour guides included Reggie Gaylord, a second-year medical student, and School of Medicine dean, Richard Krugman, MD. While the School of Medicine and the University of Colorado Denver Office of Diversity contributed $250 apiece, Stowers picked up the rest of the tab for the students to attend the exhibit.

Students assigned to medical student Reggie Gaylord were impressed with the medical student’s knowledge. “I can tell he knows a lot and has learned a lot,” commented DSST student Gregory Hatcher.

Ninth-grader David Galindo with CU School of Medicine Dean Richard Krugman, MD.

Alex Head, DSST dean of students commented, “They’re all absolutely engrossed. This is such a positive experience for them.”

DSST student Akilo Walker observed, “It’s weird to see the inside of a human figure. Like, I don’t want to eat lunch.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for these students to go through this exhibit with a physician. That’s really the way to do it,” said DSST technology director Mark Inglas.

In the end, Stowers was pleased with the tours. "The DSST teachers reported that when the students returned to school after their visit to the Body Worlds Exhibit, lesson plans had to be abandoned; the kids were so 'energized' that the only topic for the rest of the day was their visit to the museum and their time with the doctors. There have been nothing but positive comments from everyone."

 

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