The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville recently celebrated National Doctors’ Day by inspiring the next generation of future doctors.
Approximately 140 kindergarten students from Robert E. Cashion Elementary School in Greenville took a field trip to the local medical school on March 30. Phyllis MacGilvray, dean of USC School of Medicine Greenville, said the field trip was designed as a fun way to introduce students to the medical field.
“I was inspired to become a physician when I was a kindergartener,” MacGilvray said. “We thought, what better way to give back to the community than to bring a Title 1 school to campus and show them what they could be.”
Medical students and staff from USC School of Medicine Greenville guided the kindergarteners through several hands-on activities to learn how to use stethoscopes, perform CPR, prevent the spread of germs and build a skeleton. Anshel Ross, a third-year medical student, said she wished she had this type of experience when she was growing up.
National Doctors’ Day at USC School of Medicine Greenville
“Children are the future, so educating them early and giving them that exposure, I think, really helps open their eyes to medicine and get them interested in different career fields,” Ross said.
Hilary Toro, a kindergarten teacher at Robert E. Cashion Elementary School, said many of the kindergarten students have only interacted with doctors when they were sick. She explained that the field trip allowed the students to see doctors from a different perspective and as a potential future career.
“It’s exciting to see if this will steer them into that path or maybe just have a new appreciation of doctors,” Toro said.
Each kindergartener on the field trip left with a doctor’s white lab coat and a miniature stethoscope. MacGilvray said the medical school hopes to continue hosting similar events to inspire the next generation of students who will attend USC School of Medicine Greenville.
