Hinsdale Students Attend Medical Seminar

HINSDALE, IL — AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale recently held its ninth annual iBody interactive seminar. The seminar lasts nine days and has opportunities for high school and college students to learn about the human body and the changing field of medicine. According to a release from AMITA Health, Rebekah Tanurdzic, 19, knows students like some parts of the interactive seminar more than others.

“Most campers will say either the dissections or seeing surgeries are their favorite parts,” Tanurdzic said in a release. She attended the seminar this June, and plans to attend Walla Walla University in Washington this fall. “It is such a blessing to be able to witness doctors changing lives, nurses healing sick patients, learning how your body works, and working with amazing equipment and staff.”

According to the release, some of the highlights included:

• Learning from nursing specialists in oncology, intensive care, neonatal intensive care and surgery
• Observing a total knee replacement, coronary artery bypass and other surgeries through a live video feed
• Dissecting a bovine heart and other bovine organs
• Hearing from physicians, nurses, therapists and staff in a variety of specialties and settings, including cardiovascular surgery, emergency medicine, family medicine and orthopedics.

“The enthusiasm for this seminar is more evident than ever,” Katie Weibel, seminar director and executive director of nursing professional practice, said in a release. “This year we had several college students attend. Among our counselors were two medical students and a pre-med student who returned to help after attending the seminar in the past.”

According to the release, the forerunner to the iBody seminar was first offered in 1995 at the Robert Crown Health Education Center in Hinsdale, where it is still a part of the curriculum. An expanded version was first offered in 2009 at AMITA Health Hinsdale.

This year, according to the release, campers also met in small groups to tackle the topics like diagnosis of ADHD, diagnoses among babies born prematurely, Alzheimer’s and dementia, organ transplants, bio-terrorism, cancer myths, vaccinations, prosthetic limbs, and bio-technology.

“The most wonderful thing is understanding that the medical field is all about people,” Tanurdzic said in a release. “The love we have for one another and the will to help each other is what drives those in the health care.”

According to the release, after the seminar, one mother sent a thank you note to Weibel.

“You and your program have changed my child for good,” she wrote. “She comes home excited, impressed, and more convinced of her interest in medicine. It brings joy in my heart to see her so passionate. What a gift to our future health care professionals.”

Photos provided by AMITA Health.