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EXPLORE: Educator's Guide | Exhibit Explorer Questions | Surgery Live!

EXPLORE: Educator’s Guide

Whitaker Center’s annual EXPLORE: Educators’ Planning Guide is currently under construction and will be available shortly. Please check back soon.

Exhibit Explorer Questions

Check back soon for new age-appropriate materials.

Surgery Live!

Click here for a preview of Surgery Live!.
Click here to download the information as a PDF.
Click here to complete the Surgery Live! Reservation Request Form.

Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center are launching an innovative new partnership designed to stimulate the interest of high school students in careers in health care. With the support of Highmark Blue Shield, Surgery Live! at the Science Center in Whitaker center will allow students to enter the operating rooms of Hershey Medical Center through interactive high definition videoconferencing technology.

Student groups at Whitaker Center will see and hear the surgical teams in real time and will be permitted to ask questions at appropriate points during surgical procedures. In addition to explaining the operation as it happens, members of the surgical team will also describe their responsibilities and careers in health care, making those careers more interesting and accessible. Whitaker Center's Director of Education will facilitate the students' discussion with operating room staff, demonstrate surgical instruments used in the operation, and explain factors that cause disease and contribute to conditions that place patients on the operating table. Pre- and post-visit educational activities will maximize the impact of each Surgery Live! session.

There are only three similar programs at science centers in the U.S. These include Surgical Suite at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, OH; Live from the Heart at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL; and Cardiac Classroom at the Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ. The following comment is typical of Cardiac Classroom program participants:

“Watching a kidney transplant—live—and having students talk to operating room staff was an incredibly compelling experience. Students talked about it for days afterwards and a significant number now want to explore careers in medicine or biology.” - Bobbi Bremmer, High School Science Teacher

Surgery Live! learning objectives:

Through pre-visit activities and by interacting with medical professionals as they perform their duties within the operating room, students will explore the variety of health careers that are involved in a surgical procedure.
Students will learn how medical professionals apply elements of the scientific method to make critical observations of each patient, prepare accurate diagnoses and effectively treat disease.
By observing the live surgical procedure and engaging in a group discussion afterward, students will gain an increased understanding of unhealthy living habits, how these can lead to disease and the need for surgery, and how healthy lifestyle choices can help people avoid surgery.
Students will increase their knowledge of human anatomy

Surgery Live! details at-a-glance:

Capacity: 100 people
Program duration: 2.5 hours for Surgery Live! program
Total Whitaker Center visit time varies based on time allotted for visiting the Science Center and additional programmatic options chosen.
Pricing
Students $20
Adult chaperone $10
Lead Teacher Free

*Note: SDPC participants receive a 10% discount on the above rates. Science Center admission is included in Surgery Live! pricing. Addition of IMAX films or Discovery Labs may be available upon request for an additional fee.

Dates
Surgery Live! dates for the 2010/2011 School Year will be announced in late August 2010.

Contact
For more information regarding Surgery Live! programming, please contact our School Reservations Office at 717-214-4644. Program availability and space is limited.