by Connor Johnston
Connor is a junior at Travelers Rest High School and is involved in many activities, including track and cross country and the Future Medical Students at TRHS. We’re thrilled to have him share his first article (of what we hope is many) for us here at TRH.
Travelers Rest High School has all the normal clubs and activities that most high schools do. We have sports teams who work hard to win and we also have after-school clubs such as Beta Club. But one club that is special to Travelers Rest High School is Future Medical Students. Future Medical Students is a great club that was started by and is run by students. I am a proud member of this club and have enjoyed every session.
So what do we do? Well, the club is focused on using the information learned in school and discovering possible career opportunities. We help fellow students explore their interests by bringing people in from across the field of medicine and having those people offer presentations on what they do. Question and answer sessions with different professionals have helped students learn about what they enjoy and how to apply it in their future potential careers.
Future Medical Students is a new club to Travelers Rest High School, and as I said earlier, it was created by and is run by students. The teacher who sponsors this club, Dr. Plemons, teaches Sports Medicine and Medical Terminology at the high school. She works with the students to plan out the meetings and to help bring in professionals to give presentations on their job. With her help, many students now know what careers in medicine look like, what is required of them in specific medical fields, and what schooling is needed to get there.
This sounds great (and it is!), but what have we actually done? Well, for one, students who participated in a student led session got certified in a Stop the Bleed course created by the American College of Surgeons. This course was led by one of our own students, Curtis Wilson, who was certified to teach this course and is now helping others know what to do in trauma situations. This course offered things such as instruction on wound packing and proper use of tourniquets. Curtis led the group along with a representative, Sam McGarby, from Greenville County EMS who also provided equipment for the session.
One of the biggest impacts that Future Medical Students had on students this year is with Prisma Health’s Med Ex Academy. Earlier this year, we had speakers from Med Ex Academy, a prominent organization that helps students interested in medicine, come in and talk about their organization. For juniors, they offer a summer program and they also help with college applications for seniors. They talked about how to apply to schools and also gave some tips on what those schools were looking for in their applicants. Where Future Medical Students really helped students though, was getting students to think about and draft their essays and to also think about recommendations.
But hold on, there’s more! Besides people talking about their jobs, what else do Future Medical Students do to help students? Well I’m glad you asked, because in our most recent meeting, we had The Blood Connection give a presentation about all the hard work they are doing. They cleared up a lot of questions about who they are and what they do. You may know them from local blood drives and local events, but they are a local blood drive center where all the help goes right back into this community. They explained how, after graduating high school, students could apply to work there. Now, blood isn’t for everyone, but for those who are not squeamish around it and want to help people, this is a great opportunity and experience. (It also helps with applications too.)
Future Medical Students is constantly working with its members and its local community to expand the options that students have and helping them as much as possible on their journey into the medical field.
Currently, we have approximately 30 proud members of this amazing and still growing club who all love the idea of exploring medicine. If you are a local student who is interested in medicine, we will gladly welcome you into our community. And if you have high school students, you may consider this opportunity that Travelers Rest High School offers to its students when you are thinking about where to send your kids.
As a proud member of Future Medical Students, I have learned so much and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
