Grayson Reid, 13, grew up watching “Grey’s Anatomy” and always dreamed of becoming a doctor one day.
Standing outside the operating room at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center after donning full scrubs and a scrub cap, the Manassas resident and Metz Middle School student was about to get his chance.
As part of the hospital system’s Healthcare Heroes event, Reid had the opportunity to try out DaVinci, a surgical robot used to perform many of the same procedures handled by fictional surgeons like Patrick Dempsey — and the real ones who participated in Saturday’s event.
Middle School Student Grayson Reid using the DaVinci Surgical Robot. (Photos by Noelle Clark.)
“It was like a moth drawn to a flame — I just had to come here,” Reid said of the event. “Being able to use all the surgical tools that I saw on television is amazing to me.”
What originally was only going to be a tour of the hospital for students in the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity gave Associate Medical Director Dr. Jennea Correia the idea of further capturing the kids’ attention by letting them use their hands to truly get a feel for what it’s like in the healthcare field.
“Kids are bound to pay more attention if they get to try these things for themselves,” Correia said. “This year, I was able to open it up to more kids who may be interested in the healthcare profession.”
Now in its second year, the event attracted 38 interested teens. They rotated through five stations to get a full hands-on experience with the medical personnel who came in on their days off for this event:
- IV placement – Teens learned how to place IVs using the guidance of an ultrasound machine.
- CPR – Using mannequins, the teenagers were able to learn the basics of performing CPR to potentially save a life.
- Suturing – Using suture kits, the teens learned how to suture lacerations on pig’s feet.
- Surgical robot – Teenagers in attendance were able to go to an operating room and get hands-on experience using the DaVinci surgical robot to open a Starburst wrapper.
- Electrophysiology lab – Teens got a tour of the electrophysiology lab where Dr. Hakeem Ayinde discussed what goes into his job correcting electrical issues of the heart.
Electrophysiologist and cardiologist Dr. Hakeem Ayinde demonstrates various scans of hearts in the electrophysiology lab.
“When I grew up, I knew I wanted to be a doctor but I wasn’t quite sure what kind of doctor yet until I got to shadow a physician in the emergency room,” Correia said. “I was only there for about two hours but within that period of time, I assisted in bagging and giving air to a patient who came in with cardiac arrest and I knew right then.”
Podiatrist Tyler Gloschat assists teens at the suturing station.
Ayinde, an electrophysiologist and cardiologist, also knew since he was about 5 years old that he wanted to become a doctor, and his parents helped guide him along the way as he pursued his passion.
“There are different ways to achieve your goals of getting into the healthcare field, but that passion is so essential,” Ayinde told the group who’d gathered with him in the electrophysiology lab. “A lot of fields are merging and there’s so many creative ways to be in this field. It’s all about finding those mentors who you can connect with that can help build you up.”
General surgeon Dr. Eric Thomas took the time to teach the captivated teens how to use the DaVinci surgical robot to unwrap a Starburst candy.
General surgeon Dr. Eric Thomas oversees one of the teens using the DaVinci surgical robot.
“This is our 100% non-autonomous robot, meaning it cannot do anything without the human running it,” Thomas reassured the teens gathered in the operating room for the demonstration. “This is the fourth generation of the DaVinci robot and it’s been used by all kinds of surgeons for different surgeries.”
To support staff that took time to educate the teens on their day off, the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center CEO Ryan DeWeese attended the event along with his daughter.
Correia emphasized her plans to continue this program annually, if not make it available more frequently so as anyone interested in the healthcare field can partake.
“I’m a huge advocate when it comes to community service and educating others, especially the youth of today,” Correia said. “There might have been one of two kids here today that didn’t know much about medicine and what it entails and I could’ve changed that. That’s what makes it all worth it to me.”
