New CSU Anatomy Camp gives high-schoolers a unique look at the human body

July 22, 2016 | By Rhea Maze

FORT COLLINS – High-schoolers in bright green scrubs huddle to discuss a medical stumper: What caused a 46-year-old man’s liver failure?

To answer the question, the students draw upon knowledge

and hands-on experience – including examination of a human

cadaver and organs – that they’ve gained during a week at

Colorado State University’s first Anatomy Camp. The students

have traveled from across Colorado and the nation for a

weeklong immersion in human gross anatomy instruction that

will help direct their college studies and, for some, could be a

first step toward careers in health and medicine.

“Trying to solve these case studies was intimidating at first,” said

Sara Brodsky, a junior from Winter Park, Fla. “I’m not used to having

to ask so many questions to get to the answer. It’s been different

and challenging, but it’s getting easier as the week goes on.”

Through that critical-thinking process, visiting students determined

the 46-year-old man had Cirrhosis of the liver, a progressive

disease in which healthy tissue is replaced with scar tissue.

It was one of many cases students considered during the first

session of CSU Anatomy Camp July 10-16; the second camp

session is set July 24-30. By month’s end, about 50 students from

eight states will have attended the fully booked camp sessions.

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COMEFaculty and graduate students in the Department of Biomedical

Sciences are leading the camp in a project that could grow

significantly in years to come, as the department undertakes

plans to construct a state-of-the-art Health Education Outreach

Center. The center, in early planning stages, would comprise a

new wing of the CSU Anatomy-Zoology Building with laboratories

dedicated to student training in human gross anatomy and

neuroanatomy. Groundbreaking is not yet set.

CSU human anatomy programs for decades have attracted

aspiring doctors and health professionals, in part because the

university gives undergraduate students the rare chance to

closely study and work with human cadavers, an opportunity

that provides an incomparable look at the human body in its

healthy and diseased states. The planned CSU Health Education

Outreach Center would offer such learning not only to more

High-school sophomore

Kyle Kirby practices suturing

techniques.

undergraduate students, but to high-schoolers and to medical

students through collaboration with the University of Colorado

School of Medicine; it would be linked to life-sciences outreach

and education at the National Western Center in Denver.

“The Health Education Outreach Center will have brand-

new facilities for the study of human anatomy and human

neuroanatomy,” said Tod Clapp, an assistant professor in the

Department of Biomedical Sciences and head of its human

anatomy program. “These facilities will rival the best medical

schools in the U.S. and will allow us to serve more students.”

The first-ever session of CSU Anatomy Camp offered a preview

of what’s to come, while also providing high-schoolers with

exceptional anatomy instruction, excursions into the Rocky

Mountains and a taste of campus life. In addition to attending

college-level lectures and labs, visiting students stayed in CSU

residence halls, hiked to well-known Horsetooth Rock, went

whitewater rafting and visited historic Old Town Fort Collins.

A RARE CHANCE TO STUDY HUMAN CADAVERSThe 25 students at the first session were divided into small

groups. At the beginning of the week, each group received a

central question from a medical case study and was challenged

to answer it at week’s end using information gained from

interactive anatomy lessons. These lessons included the rare

opportunity to examine human cadavers, which CSU acquires

after people elect, before death, to donate their bodies to

science education through the State Anatomical Board.

“We built Anatomy Camp around the idea of giving students a

main challenge at the beginning of the week, in the form of a

clinical case study, and having them gather and put together

information in order to solve the case study and present their

findings to the group at the end of the week,” said Clapp, a CSU

2016 Best Teacher awardee. “It’s a summer camp, but at the

same time students gain valuable knowledge of anatomy and

the skills needed to solve a novel problem.”

The rigorous schedule includes working with real anatomical

specimens, dissecting animal specimens, studying cross-

sectional anatomy, building anatomical clay models, and learning

suture techniques, Virtual Human Dissector (VHD) software, and

how to use stethoscopes and take blood pressure readings.

Top CSU anatomy students and graduates work as camp

counselors, mentoring the visiting high-schoolers.

STUDENTS ENCOURAGED TO BE INQUISITIVE“High school is a good time to explore options and learn about

the different opportunities that are out there,” said anatomy camp

counselor Jolysa Gallegos, a 2016 graduate of the biomedical

sciences master’s program. “These students are here because

they want to be here and it shows.”

Many students were at first nervous, yet faculty, staff and

counselors quickly put them at ease. “This week, be bold,

creative, inquisitive, and ask questions,” Clapp encouraged the

students. “You’re here to better understand yourself and how

you learn, and we’re here to help.”

Anatomy camp counselor Derek George, a 2016 graduate of the

biomedical sciences master’s program, said he was inspired to

pursue medical school after exposure to human anatomy in high

school. He now hopes to provide a similar experience for high-

schoolers attending the CSU Anatomy Camp.

“I had a wonderful, enthusiastic teacher who talked about how

much good people in medicine can do,” said George, who soon

will start medical school at the University of Colorado. “I wanted

to give back and potentially inspire these high school students

to pursue a similar path.”

“This week, be bold, creative, inquisitive, and ask questions. You’re here to better understand yourself and how you learn,

and we’re here to help.”

Cameron Epstein takes

blood pressure readings

with instruction from

Nicole Kaley.

New CSU Anatomy Camp gives high-schoolers a unique look at the human body

July 22, 2016 | By Rhea Maze

CAMPERS INTERESTED IN HEALTH AND MEDICINEMany of those attending the first Anatomy Camp said they likewise are

interested in medical school; they hoped the camp would accelerate

their education.

“I came to Anatomy Camp because I want to be a battlefield trauma

surgeon,” said Dylan Cowart, a sophomore from Fort Collins. His favorite

activities included working with cadavers, suturing and participating in

college-level lectures. “I learned so much this week about things I’ve

never even thought about before.”

Anatomy Camp was more exploratory for other students.

“I don’t really know what I want to do after high school—that’s the main

reason I came here,” said Joy Johnson, a sophomore from the Denver area.

“I wanted to experience what it might be like to choose a path like this, and

I’ve learned that I’m a lot less squeamish than I thought I would be. Now I’m

thinking about going into physical therapy so that I can help people.”

Brodsky, the student from Florida, said the suturing clinic was her favorite

camp activity.

“I want to be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon,” she said. “When I was in

seventh grade, I had to have surgery on my knee and I loved my surgeon

so much I decided I wanted to be just like her. I’m not sure where I’ll go to

college, but after learning to suture and working with real cadavers, I feel

like I’ve already gotten a good head start.”

Coleman Cornelius contributed to this report.

Photographs by William A. Cotton/CSU Creative Services

For more information and to view a video about Anatomy Camp, visit anatomycamp.colostate.edu.