Computer Clubhose and Youth Academy visits UCDMC

On Friday October 21, 2011 participants from Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services' (SFBFS) Computer Clubhouse Youth Academy attended a special field trip to UC Davis Medical Center. Mrs. Meyers , a mentor and tutor in the Computer Clubhouse, organized this opportunity for the students. The field trip was a great way for students to visit with an organization that is very important to our community. That afternoon, a handful of SFBFS staff and volunteers led 25 children to the UC Davis Medical Center.

Upon arrival, students signed in and made name tags at Education Building Lecture Hall with Felicia Espina Miller. This made the students feel like they were at an adult conference! Once everyone gathered in the classroom, we met Dr. D. Latimore, who is the Dean-Student Resident of Diversity. He spoke with the children about the importance of college and stressed how higher education is not an unreachable goal, but something that is attainable by every student in the room. One of the most memorable quotes by Dr. Latimore was, “School is not hard. What is hard is trying to raise a family on minimum wage or less is what will be hard.” Dr. Latimore’s speech was full of wisdom, encouragement and humor.

The excitement was not over; we were then introduced to some of the medical students who inspired the Clubhouse students to realize that a college education is attainable for everyone. Each medical student shared their background and their approach to pursuing their goal of working in the medical field. The medical students engaged us with a power point presentation about taking patient history. They ended the presentation with a Q & A informational session between the medical students and SFBFS youth.

The group then went upstairs to work with medical students and participate in hands on demonstrations called “Doctoring Skills Workshop.” The children role-played being doctors and nurses where the health screenings are performed. The students were very enthusiastic to work with the different tools used by doctors such as the stethoscope and blood pressure pump. Students also learned about how to know to engage with the patient to obtain a thorough medical history.

The field trip ended with delicious dinner and a promise to return to the School of Medicine in the near future. The youth at SFBFS wrote thank you letters to Dr. Latimore, Ms. Espina and the medical students for taking the time out of their busy schedules to conduct this field trip for us. We send out a very special thank you to Mrs. Meyers, who worked very hard to put this whole thing together for all of us - we can’t say thank you enough!

Written by Hope White, SFBFS Youth Education Program Assistant