Some may be alarmed to hear that an ambulance recently rolled up to Westside. Its arrival was not in response to any sort of medical emergency, however — instead, a group of EMTs had come to talk with the Westside Medical Club. This was but one unique Medical Club meeting scheduled to occur throughout the year.

Junior Lauren Mott and senior Amber Lonneman are the club’s co-presidents. At the beginning of the year, a survey was administered to find out what students wanted to learn, and now it’s up to Mott and Lonneman to tailor the meetings to students’ interests. Mott says that the club’s mission is to help students learn about careers in the medical field, mainly by inviting guest speakers. Sometimes attendees can even get a bit of hands-on experience. For example, Mott and Lonneman both agreed that one highlight is learning how to give sutures (surgical stitches) to a banana.

“It’s kind of like sewing, but a lot of people think it’s exactly like sewing. In reality, it’s [completely different],” Lonneman said. “You learn how fragile the skin can actually be, because apparently the skin of a banana is similar to the skin of a human. So you learn how easy it is to actually rip the suture right out.”

The club also travels to different locations. An upcoming trip is scheduled for the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit, famous for treating patients infected with the Ebola virus. There are several others scheduled throughout the year, as well.

“We’ve done cadaver labs before, where you get to go see human bodies, but I’ve never gotten to go […] I think it was Track last year that was conflicting with it,” Mott said. “I was really upset because I really wanted to see it. I think we’re going to do that again this year or next year.”

Not every activity involves bananas or cadavers, of course. However, every speaker does have something of value to share about their career, whether they be a cardiologist or an anesthesiologist.

“Some of them are less entertaining, kind of like keynote speakers, but it’s really good information to hear,” Mott said.

The information is especially useful to students looking for a passion. Lonneman said that she was able to narrow down her future career choices by attending the meetings. She decided that she didn’t want to pursue her original career choice — being a paramedic — and was more interested in the fields of surgery and psychology.

High school students are keenly aware that the future is full of intimidating decisions to make, and the club can give prospective medical students a head start on narrowing down their choice of specialty. Despite all the benefits of attending, however, Mott says that the club is in need of new regular members.

“Not many people come, which surprises me,” Mott said. “It’s like, guys, this is really cool. We need to get more people.”

It’s not necessary for students to attend every meeting, according to Mott. However, she encourages anyone interested to stop by.

“Just come and try it out,” Mott said. “Every single meeting is different, so if you don’t like one, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t like all of them […] We see so many different people and so many kinds of presenters.”

Medical Club’s next meeting is on Oct. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in room 113. All are invited. It will feature a panel of medical students — two from UNMC and two from Creighton — who will speak about their experience attending medical school.