“I started taking anatomy and physiology classes 16 years ago, and it is one of the things that spurs on my interest in medicine today,” said Hamilton.
Image by Tori Swart.
The auditorium is occupied by close to 100 students, all gazing toward the stage where a single man stands with only a speaker’s stand and a projection screen as his other props.
If not for the picture of the shoulder’s muscular structure on screen, the meeting would have been thought to be a standard school assembly. But on Nov. 4, students were treated to a visit by Beacon Orthopedics.
“The purpose of the presentation was to introduce students to the anatomy of the shoulder, and how we put that knowledge to work throughout the week and use that knowledge to help treat patients,” said Dr. Steve Hamilton, sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at Beacon.
Highlights from the presentation include an in-depth breakdown of the shoulder muscles, the shoulder injuries accompanying those muscles, and a video presentation with instruction on how to conduct an all-around shoulder test for injuries.
The human body may be an unappealing, even gruesome, field to some, but for others, including Rachel Wright, 12, the presentation was fascinating.
“The most interesting part about this presentation was when the speaker explained how the shoulder worked. I never really put much thought into it, but when he broke it down into so much detail, it was really cool,” said Wright.
In addition to introducing students to a career, the meeting also prepared for a field trip in the Anatomy, Physiology, and AP Biology classes, where 12 students will partake in a shoulder surgery on a cadaver at Beacon Orthopedic Hospital.
For those who are not selected for the field trip, however, the assembly served as another of the many special visits in SHS.
“This presentation definitely made me appreciate the immense amount of detail in the human body,” said Wright.
