[Give Chances] July Newsletter 5

Give Chances recently hosted a hands-on medical lab seminar for middle school students at our New Jersey headquarters.

The event was made possible through generous support from the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, who donated all supplies and equipment. A key contributor to this program was Dr. Steven Kang, a physician at SUNY Downstate, who worked alongside Dylan Taewoong Kang, a student at Phillips Academy Andover and a Give Chances volunteer. Dylan first discovered his passion for lab medicine at the ASCP NEXTPO conference in Chicago. Inspired by the experience, he helped bring the NEXTPO program to the New York and New Jersey area, giving younger students a chance to explore real-world science up close.

Having attended the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) NEXTPO conference in Chicago, Dylan was introduced to careers in the pathology laboratory.

NEXTPO is a seminar aimed at introducing students to lab medicine through first-hand interactive science experiments.

As a volunteer to the ASCP setting up the NEXTPO conference for seventy 12th graders, he was invited to attend the conference as a last-minute participant. He immediately fell in love with hands-on science learning.

When he was a student attending a NYC public school, he found that there were very limited lab-related seminars in New York geared toward middle school students. This motivated him to bring NEXTPO, directed towards junior high schoolers, to the New York and New Jersey area.

Over two separate sessions at the Give Chances headquarters in New Jersey, the NEXTPO hands-on lab seminar consisted of four different activities:

• ABO/Rh Blood Typing
  Students typed patient red blood using anti-A and anti-B sera in glass test tubes in a centrifuge. They shook the test tubes and observed clumping of red cells breaking off the bottom button, indicating a positive reaction.

• Mock Breast Lumpectomy Specimen Grossing
  Using foam clay, students colored and serially sectioned a mock breast lumpectomy specimen to locate the tumor.

• Forensics & Gunshot Stippling Patterns
  Participants explored forensic science by analyzing gunshot stippling patterns to determine the distance between a firearm and the victim.

• Histology & Neuroanatomy
  Students examined coronal brain sections fixed in formalin and stained peripheral blood smears with hematoxylin and eosin, observing the morphology of red and white blood cells under a microscope.

This could not have happened without Give Chances for their support.
We would like to thank State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center for donating all of the supplies and equipment.

There are two more NEXTPO lab sessions coming up in Flushing, New York on August 5th and August 12th.
There are limited spots, so sign up quickly! We hope to see future doctors and scientists there!