Bellaire Medical Club invited 11 UT medical students to teach 30 club members suturing, stitching that holds a wound or incision closed, using Sendew suture practice kits on Monday, Sept. 23.
Groups of two to four students sat at tables with one to two medical students so students could get personal attention and were able to move at different paces. Members practiced suturing with different needles, threads and thicknesses of the “skin”.

Sophomore Audrey Lawrence said she liked how hands-on the experience was.

“I learned how to do a surgeon’s knot, which I had been learning for bracelet making, but it’s a lot harder when you’re doing it on actual skin,” Lawrence said. “My friend [and I] actually plan on buying another one of those suture kits and doing it ourselves.”

Junior Laila Hakki said she enjoyed learning from the UT medical students. Hakki has been interested in the medical field from a young age and while she has shadowed doctors in the past, Hakki feels that the suture lesson helped her understand more about the medical field in general.

“Not only did we learn how to suture, but I was also able to ask other questions in regards to actually going to medical school,” Hakki said. “[We asked about] different opportunities that we should explore, such as research and about being an EMT. It’s just an educational opportunity.”

Senior and president Maddie Leung said she, and the other officers have been planning this meeting since April. Last year, Medical Club had a mentorship program with the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) where students would partner with a university medical student. However, members of the LMSA wanted to provide more experiences to get high schoolers interested in the medical field.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Leung said. “[The meeting] was encouraging because [the UT medical students] showed us that with hard work, they’re where they are today. It was really nice to see a group of [university] students that were all motivated by the same cause and really passionate about helping high school students.”

The club plans on hosting three other meetings throughout the school year in partnership with LMSA. Junior and programs committee officer Miranda Wang says the club is still deciding what activity the medical students will teach next.

“We’re talking about potentially learning CPR, or doing other types of hands-on activities,” Wang said. “I know most of the students in the club are planning to go into pre-med [as] a potential career.”

Leung has and will continue to partner with the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), a student organization for competing in conferences surrounding the medical field. The Medical Club plans to hold the next meeting in partnership with LMSA in late November or early December. Students can stay updated about future events by joining the Medical Club’s Remind at @bellaireme.