Twelve students from Penn Hills High School recently took an interesting visit to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh where they viewed a live open heart surgery as part of AGH’s Open Heart Surgery Observation Program.
The students viewed the procedure from an atrium above the surgical room, which gave them a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of an operating room — including the doctors, attending nurses and even the item counters for billing.
Ian Nadzan, Taleisha Jones, Eric Walker, Sarah Miller, Leah Robbins, Tajha Troxler, Avery Slagle, Laniyah Hines, Mary Atieno, Makenna Carricato, Nevaeh Gibb-Peters and Jadyn Wrigh were selected from a larger group of 26 students, who all submitted essays on why they would like a career in medical science. The essays were then read blindly by administration and the 12 best were selected for the observatory program.
The students – all juniors and seniors – participated through the anatomy and physiology class at Penn Hills and were chaperoned by Gregg Moss, who has been a science teacher at the school for the last 17 years.
“This field trip is an exceptional way for students who express interest in healthcare to a get a live up close, in-person view of a life changing event,” Moss said. “It is a once in a lifetime event that inspires students each year; it energizes and excites them about future opportunities that lie ahead.”
This is the sixth time Penn Hills has gone to AGH for the surgery observation. The school began its involvement in 2015, going each year through 2019 until the covid-19 pandemic hit. After taking a two-year break, the students returned in 2022 and 2023, and the school plans on continuing the program into the future.
