Beginning with an informational session on Jan. 22 and concluding with a live mock event on March 25, the Office of Career Development will host a Medical & Psychological Clinical Case Competition in conjunction with NSU faculty and the U.S. Army.
The mock event, as well as a series of workshops and research components, will help students put classroom and industry skills to practice in a real-world setting.
Students will compete in teams of three to six individuals, and while the event is open to all students and majors, at least two of the three majors associated with the case study — biology, public health or nutrition and psychology — must be represented. If a student wishes to participate but does not have a team, they will be placed in teams with other students in a similar situation.
Student teams must attend an informational session on Jan. 22 and all workshops for the case study that will be held throughout January, February and March. The workshops will be taught by leading NSU faculty as well as U.S. Army Medics on topics such as bleed management, respiration management, triage/evacuation and psychology assessment practices.
Emilio Lorenzo, the associate director of employer relations who oversees NSU’s case competitions, said, “The main goal is for students to learn in the workshops what they will need to do for the live event. Even if [students] don’t want to participate in the case competition, this is a great way to learn skills that might come in handy if they want to go to medical school.”
In addition to the workshops, there is also a research aspect of the competition which will determine the eight teams that will participate in the live event.
Teams will conduct research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the psychological effects of traumatic events, such as school shootings. Based on their research, students will submit a short presentation on what they learned and the solutions their team developed to combat their specific issue in South Florida. In addition, students will also submit a video on how their team competing in the live event competition will help to support their individual career goals.
If chosen as one of the top eight teams to continue to the live event competition, teams will then have the chance to win a $300 prize for first place. The live event will be hosted by the U.S. Army, which will set up a medical tent on campus where students can apply their acquired skills to a fictitious scenario with patient actors. All students who submit research, regardless of whether or not they compete in the live event, will receive experiential learning credit.
Photo: H. Naidoo
