CLS Program Hosts High School Students for Summer Learning Experiences

Last week, the Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) Program hosted a group of high-school students in the CLS laboratories to provide much-needed clinical experiences the students were missing due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout most of the last school year.

Miryam Terrazas, a teacher of biomedical sciences at Pebble Hills High School in East El Paso, approached Elizabeth Camacho, CLS program lecturer, with the request to visit the CLS laboratories. Her students are part of the Biomedical Sciences track in the Socorro Independent School District’s Project Lead the Way program, which focuses on engaging students in problem-based learning within STEM. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the students were unable to complete the hands-on learning activities that are at the heart of the program.

Terrazas said Camacho agreed to her request and went “above and beyond” the call of duty, hosting eight students and two teachers for a total of four days. Camacho’s agenda included a lab safety PowerPoint and activities focused on urinalysis, microbiology, blood-typing and hematology. Students also isolated DNA from their own cheek cells, extracted muscle cells from five different types of fish, and watched videos on Western blotting techniques.

While the primary objective was to provide students with clinical experiences, Camacho also took advantage of the opportunity to talk to the students about the CLS program and possible career options with the degree – all of the students are entering their senior year in high school and will be making critical decisions about their concentration area. Terrazas said it was important that the students were aware of other options outside of the traditional MD or nursing career pathways.

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Go Miners!

For more information about the CLS Program, please visit: https://www.utep.edu/chs/cls/

For more information about Project Lead the Way, please visit: https://www.sisd.net/Page/5835