Students observe open heart surgery at AGH
Some of the Upper St. Clair High School students participating in the Open Heart Surgery Observation Program were (back row, from left) Samuel Boyd, Hannah Lund, Sarah Tepe, Marissa Behun, Celia Giselson, Haylee Gans, Emily Goodman, Kristen Perri, Adam Lucas, Anisah Rafi and Dr. Colin Syme, honors anatomy and physiology teacher; (front row, from left) Joe Ferneding, USC graduate and surgical perfusionist at Allegheny General Hospital, Nina Brajovic, Katey Lloyd, Hannah Pistorius, Troye Kiernan and Morgan Hubbard.
Bethel Park High School students participating this year in the Open Heart Surgery Observation Program were Samantha Acker, Tom Calano, Emily Davidson, Madison Dunn, Lauren Greer, Aubrey Hoffman, Bob Huntington, Kate Jensen, Hannah Libell, Megan Marecic, Alexandra Meyer, Dominic Papalia, Sonya Shaikh, Jamie Smith, Rachel Taylor and Rohan Young.
Local students considering a career in medicine recently traveled to Allegheny General Hospital to observe West Penn Allegheny Health System’s cardiovascular surgeons in action.
According to the West Penn Allegheny Health System website (www.wpahs.org), since May 2008, high school students from Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio have taken advantage of a special opportunity to observe open heart surgery. Coordinated by the Allegheny General Hospital Gerald McGinnis Cardiovascular Institute (CVI), the Open Heart Surgery Observation Program has now hosted more than 5,000 students from nearly 100 schools throughout the area.
During surgery, a staff member from CVI joins the students and their teachers and explains what is happening in the operating room, and following surgery, the surgeon will often meet with the students and answer questions.
Two groups of Upper St. Clair anatomy and physiology, AP biology, and gifted students traveled to AGH. On Nov. 14, honors anatomy and physiology teacher Dr. Colin Syme and a group of 15 students observed mitral valve replacement and coronary bypass, and on Nov. 28, a different group of students and AP biology teacher Jennifer Antonio observed coronary bypass surgery.
Especially interesting about the Nov. 14 surgery was the Upper St. Clair connection in the operating room. The cardiac surgeon that day was Dr. Walt McGregor, an Upper St. Clair resident, while the perfusionist, Joe Ferneding, is a 1974 USC graduate.
Ferneding said the students asked a lot of good questions ranging from specifics about the surgery they were watching, to questions about his career as a perfusionist and how he got into the field.
McGregor said that his general experience with students who participate in the Open Heart Surgery Observation Program is that they ask surprisingly insightful questions on a range of topics.
For the fourth consecutive year, a group of Bethel Park High School students in Barbara Eisel’s anatomy class traveled to AGH to observe an open heart surgery procedure. Generally, the students observe a valve replacement or bypass, but this year the students watched the repair of an aortic aneurysm.
Eisel sees great benefits in the students’ participation in this program, as it exposes them to careers in health care and the latest in medical technologies and procedures. It also impresses on the students the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. “I learn something new every time I take a group of students to participate in this program,” said Eisel. “I look forward to bringing valuable information back to the classroom to share with my students.”
McGregor said that since AGH is a teaching institution, doctors are used to working with fellows and residents, but he and his colleagues find it fulfilling to do a little teaching at the secondary level as well.
All the kids have the same focus on medicine, and we want to convey the positive aspects of this as a career.
“Medicine is a very rewarding field,” said Dr. McGregor. “This program gives us a great opportunity to act as ambassadors.”