ArkanSONO is a technology-based outreach exposure program for high school students in the Little Rock School District in central Arkansas, USA. The goal of this program is to give younger students the opportunity to experience imaging technologies at first-hand to awaken an interest in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Sectra Education Portal will be a central part of this summer’s science program.
We love using the Sectra Education Portal cases with the 3D imaging of the body in our STEM outreach efforts.
Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D., Program Director, ArkanSONO SEPA, Professor, Dept. Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, College of Medicine, UAMS
The program was recently awarded a large 5-year Science Education Partnership Award grant and staff now want to ascertain if hands-on use of technology by 9th grade students can in-fact be used to stimulate students’ interest in STEM careers. In an attempt to increase diversity and inclusion, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will visit 9th grade Physical Science classrooms in the Little Rock School District and invite students to a weeklong summer day camp focusing on technology and cardiovascular health.
Since the pandemic still prevents face-to-face classes, the program staff has planned a series of webinars. Focus will be on the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system, computerized tomography, ultrasound and histology. Sectra Education Portal and terminal will play a central part in three different settings this summer:
– A weekly anatomy & technology STEM outreach webinar series for middle- to high-school students,
– a weekly anatomy & histopathology webinar series with focus on cancer for upper-level high-school- and college students, and
– two different statewide teacher workshops entitled “Incorporation of ultrasound and CT imaging into the Anatomy & Physiology Classroom” and “Human Anatomy in Health and Disease: Heart and Brain”.
At Sectra we welcome this initiative. We strongly believe that we can enhance students’ learning process and help them develop their analytical- and problem-solving skills by giving them the opportunity to early-on interact with virtual representations of real-life bodies based on clinical imaging.
During the school year we bring a 27” touchscreen computer to classrooms so that 9th grade students can see these cases in person. It’s a great technology.
Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D., Program Director, ArkanSONO SEPA, Professor, Dept. Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, College of Medicine, UAMS
