The first group of seniors set to complete the BioMed Pathway program at La Jolla High School are filtering into area labs and research facilities to gain hands-on experience reflective of their advanced biomedical studies.
The Pathway, which has different iterations in a handful of schools, is a four-year commitment wherein students pore over specific fields of medical science, in depth, that piece together at the end of their high school years. The Pathway started three years ago, with a dual class of freshmen/sophomores, some are now seniors.
“The goal, at least for me,” said teacher Rachel Tenenbaum, “is for the students to see that a career in medicine is not just about being doctors, but entering specific fields and being people that support the different medical fields in research and technical capacities. It’s about how to do research and looking at the tools of the biotech industry. I’d love it if my students could leave here and be able to work in a lab during their higher education or have the research techniques to get a job in a lab facility as a research technician.”
| Sahra Aalaei looks at Green Fluorescent Protein-stained mouse brain slices through a confocal laser scanning microscope at the Dulcis Lab at UC San Diego. After that she will do cell counts on the sample to collect data for her experiment. |
