Estacado High School students become doctors for a day

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Students from Estacado spent the day with medical students from the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center on Thursday, learning how to be doctors.

Students and staff shared the importance of hands-on learning with KCBD.

Heidi Gonzales. a first-year medical student said, “For some, this may change the whole trajectory of their lives.”

Gonzales says programs like this help high school students understand that their dreams of becoming doctors are obtainable; something that Gonzales says she wishes she had before she jumped into the medical field.

“It hit home for me coming from a rural town, to have these students come and connect, because this may be the only time they get to experience something of this magnitude at the School of Medicine, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center,” Gonzales said.

Students got hands-on experience, from seeing X-rays to checking vitals. Cody Lass, a teacher at Estacado, says this experience helps students more than just sitting in a classroom.

“It is totally different because you are a part of something as opposed to being told to do something, any time you are more engaged with something, any time you actually get to do something, you will remember it as an experience rather than something being told to you,” Lass said.

Students agree they are still learning, even though they closed their books for the day.

Abigail Mata, an Estacado student says, “I think it helps me learn better and I am actually keeping the information with me because I am doing hands-on and in person instead of just being told to me in a classroom sitting down.”

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