The College of Medicine\u2019s M-2 Student Council sponsored a Teddy Bear Clinic March 2 at the elementary school in Lake Nona to teach first-graders about anatomy, safety, hygiene, nutrition, and exercise.<\/p>\n
About 35 medical students split into teams, one for each of the school\u2019s nine first-grade classrooms. \u00a0They passed out about 160 blue goodie bags \u2013 each holding a teddy bear, T-shirt, bottle of hand sanitizer, and an adhesive bandage. Students quickly slipped into the black College of Medicine T-shirts bearing a teddy bear logo and proclaiming \u201cTeddy Bear Clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
M-2 student Michelle Lipton – who organized the event – said the elementary school was the perfect outlet for students to share their medical knowledge. \u201cThe best way to shape healthy habits is to start at a young age,\u201d she said. Other event coordinators were with M-1 Amy Bino, who designed the T-shirts, and M-2s Lyndsey Burton and Mikaela Devaux<\/p>\n
In Mrs. Lesia Griswold\u2019s class, first-graders buzzed as they put crayons to paper and concentrated on drawing a picture of what medicine meant to them.<\/p>\n
They drew sick people in beds, a tailless dolphin, and a helicopter.\u00a0 \u201cDid you know they use helicopters in medicine sometimes?\u201d\u00a0 a COM student asked.<\/p>\n
Next, students were handed a drawing of a teddy bear and asked to find major body parts.\u00a0 They pointed to their hearts, then pointed to where the organ would be on the drawing. \u201cWhat does the heart do?\u201d asked Michelle, joined by M-2 Mihail Stojanovski, and M-1 students Ron Mercer and Phil Romanski.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt pumps blood!\u201d the students shouted. \u201cIt keeps you alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the stomach do?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt growls!\u201d a grinning first-grader said.<\/p>\n
To stress the importance of exercise, the med students cranked up a song that urged everyone to \u201cdance like an animal \u2013 boogie-woogie all day long.\u201d Suddenly the class was filled with monkeys jumping, elephants swinging their trunks, and hippos shaking.<\/p>\n
The COM students reviewed how to call 9-1-1 for help, give the universal signal for choking \u2013 hands clutching your throat, and properly wash your hands.\u00a0 The Teddy Bear Clinic ended with a talk about healthy eating habits and the food pyramid.\u00a0 One student, unsure about raspberries, said he preferred ice cream.<\/p>\n
M-2 Lauren Richter said the first-graders\u2019 enthusiasm was infectious.\u00a0 \u201cOne of the moments that stood out to me was when we were talking about emergencies: One of the kids started doing CPR on his bear!\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s opportunities like the Teddy Bear Clinic that really motivate you to keep working hard to reach your ultimate goal of practicing medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The College of Medicine\u2019s M-2 Student Council sponsored a Teddy Bear Clinic March 2 at the elementary school in Lake Nona to teach first-graders about anatomy, safety, hygiene, nutrition, and exercise. About 35 medical students split into teams, one for each of the school\u2019s nine first-grade classrooms. \u00a0They passed out about 160 blue goodie bags \u2013 each holding a teddy…","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":33869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1032],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-33868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-community-service"],"yoast_head":"\n