POWER TOOLS AND PIGS FEET?
Kaiser physicians conduct a one-day workshop that included faux surgery, lectures and a Q&A session with parents
SANTA CLARA — The sound of power tools sawing through fractured thighbones filled a conference room Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, where a group of teenage girls hard at work behind safety goggles.
Just a few feet away, another group quietly stitched up wounds on pigs’ feet.
The girls — all high school students from throughout the Bay Area — learned the basics of orthopedic surgery and engineering concepts from a team of Kaiser physicians and other staff as part of an outreach program with the Perry Initia-
“It’s really cool because they’re trying to get more women into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. There aren’t a lot of us” in those fields. — Samantha Ruiz, sophomore, Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School
tive, an organization dedicated to getting young women interested in pursuing medical and engineering careers.
The one-day workshop included faux surgery sessions on artificial bones, lectures and a Q&A session with parents.
Experts in the medical and engineering fields say such programs can be critical in instilling knowledge and confidence in young women early on and in motivating them to pursue careers in fields that are now male-dominated.
Women made up only 6.1 percent of fully accredited practicing orthopedic surgeons in 2014, according to the Perry Initiative. In the same year, only 12.4 percent of the faculty at engineering schools were women.
“You go to school and you learn about physics and a ball rolling down a hill and friction — or you may learn about chemistry or biology. But when you actually get to put it into practice and see, ‘OK, this is what my life could be,’ I think that’s when it really gets exciting,” said Dr. Katherine Gray, an orthopedic surgeon who on Saturday led the hands-on suturing sessions.
Gray, who has participated in the program for two years, said she encourages the students to speak up for themselves.
“I just want girls to be more assertive,” she said. “You can be shy if that’s your personality, but you have to look out for yourself and stick up for yourself. And I think in this sort of practical experience, they learn that if they just sit back, they’re going to lose out.”
It was the first time many of the students received any hands-on medical training.
“I think I could do a lot of good as a doctor,” said 15-year-old Anvita Sharma, a sophomore at San Ramon Valley High School. “My mom used to have a lot of back pain, so this is close to my heart.”
With power tools in hand, Sharma and her peers simulated an “external fixation” on a fractured femur — a surgical treatment used to externally stabilize bone and soft tissues, often by using pins, clamps and rods.
Samantha Gilbert said she’s always wanted to be a doctor.
“I never really thought of anything else,” said the 16year-old sophomore at San Ramon Valley High. “I want to learn the basic knowledge so that I know what I’m coming into.”
Applications were sent to schools throughout the region, and students with an interest in attending the workshop were encouraged to apply, according to staff with the Perry Initiative. Girls who were not selected this year will likely be selected in the year to follow if they choose to apply again.
Samantha Ruiz, a 15year-old sophomore at Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School, said she also came for the exposure.
“These programs — they really help,” she said. “It’s really cool because they’re trying to get more women into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. There aren’t a lot of us” in those fields.
The Perry Initiative was established in San Francisco in 2009 by Jenni Buckley, a mechanical engineer, and Dr. Lisa Lattanza, an orthopedic surgeon. The organization held its first outreach program that year, and by the next year the program had expanded nationwide. The organization became a nonprofit the following year.
Today, the initiative runs more than 40 one-day outreach programs nationwide and has reached over 6,000 high school, college and medical students.
Said Emily Pavilonis, a program specialist for the organization: “We want them to find their passion in anything, whether it’s medicine or not.”