"Kettering University’s campus is now one of the safest places to be," says Dr. Stacy Seeley, Department Head of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Director of the Pre-med Program.

Twenty-four students in the pre-med program are American Heart Association-certified in basic lifesaving and CPR after attending their second workshop at Covenant HealthCare Simulation Center at the Central Michigan University (CMU) College of Medicine in Saginaw, Michigan.

On October 20, the students took a four-hour workshop as a part of their pre-med training.

The workshop is one of eight the students will attend in a two-year span. All of the workshops feature simulated patients that are programmed to have symptoms of various medical conditions and health emergencies. Kettering's pre-med students learn about the different types of medical conditions and how to respond in an emergent situation.

During this workshop, students learned CPR and defibrillation on adult and infant training manikins, and then practiced on a simulated patient who went into cardiac arrest.

“I am just so excited about these workshops,” said Seeley. "This type of training is normally reserved for third- and fourth-year medical students and residents."

After the simulation, students received feedback and critiques from the Simulation Center faculty. In some cases, the simulations are videotaped so the students can watch back what they did and learn from their mistakes.

"The workshops give Kettering students the opportunity to learn about different types of medical training and see how they respond in an emergency," Seeley said. "At the first workshop, some students dove right in while others froze and stepped back. This time, the students were much more confident and proactive. They immediately jumped in to start the life-saving procedures. This is exactly what I had hoped would happen."

Mia Jonascu ‘18 said the workshop was a great addition to what she’s learning in the Kettering pre-med program and during her co-op.

“It provided me with skills and information that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else, and that I likely would not have been able to do otherwise,” she said. “During this training session, we were also able to put our new skills to the test in the simulation lab. We got to see just how effective we were in performing CPR and areas in which we needed to improve.”

Dayaan Ghani ‘20 led one of the teams of students and delegated tasks such as compressions, administering medications, monitoring vitals, providing breaths and shocking the patient with an AED.

It was the first time he’d been responsible for the overall care of a patient, he said.

“The intensity of this simulation kept me engaged and focused as if it had been the collapse of an actual patient,” Ghani said. “I truly enjoyed and appreciated this experience, as it has enhanced my appreciation for medicine and my desire to pursue a career as a physician.”

Kettering students will return to the Covenant HealthCare Simulation Center lab in January for the next workshop, which will focus on treating heart attacks, strokes and anaphylactic shock.

Click here to learn more about Kettering University’s Pre-Med program