Medical Academy
The Medical Academy introduces students to the world of medicine and healthcare through a three-year course sequence beginning in the tenth grade. The academy is affiliated with SUNY Downstate & Kings County Hospital, where students participate in internship opportunities. Additionally, many HSPS students are selected to participated in the competitive Arthur Ashe Institute’s Health and Science Academy.
Courses offered within the Medical Academy include:
(1) Medical Science I: Health Sciences and the Community, (2) Medical Science II: Anatomy & Physiology in Health & Disease, (3) AP Biology, (4) CPR, AED, and First Aide Certification, and (5) Medicine & Literature.
Medical Science I: Health & Wellness
Students will study the historical and current aspects of medicine, examine various options in healthcare, and study the causes, treatment and prevention of disease.
Medical Science II: Human Anatomy & Physiology
Students engage in an advanced study of the human body, by organ system. They then research different disease processes specific to the various organ systems.
In this course, students will take the roles of doctors investigating the illnesses affecting 4 patents. This allows students to become immersed in their character and engage in hands-on work either to simulate a career or to help demonstrate their understanding. Students, therefore, have the ability to show what they know through multiple methods including laboratory activities, visual projects, oral presentations, written assignments, and so forth.
Basic Life Support - CPR and AED Course with 2 year Certification - American Heart Association
This hands-on skills training course will prepare students to respond to a variety of respiratory and cardiac emergencies. Students will master the skills and knowledge needed to provide care for victims of foreign body airway obstruction, sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke through the safe use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Students will be taught advanced CPR/AED skills for adult, child, and infant victims. Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive a 2-year BLS HeartSaver CPR/AED certification through the American Heart Association. Additionally, students will learn to identify and eliminate potentially hazardous conditions in their environment, recognize a wide variety of emergencies and make appropriate decisions for first aid care. They will learn the skills required to provide immediate care for a suddenly ill or injured person until more advanced care arrives to take over.
Medicine & Literature
This course is one of two ELA options for 10th graders in the fall. It was designed for students who entered HSPS through the Medical Academy, though anyone who is interested may choose this English class option. Students will be examining the connections between race, medicine and ethics through careful study of the core text The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This class will challenge perceptions of what makes a good doctor, what rights patients should have, and what the goals of medicine are in our world.
Over the course of this semester, students will study and apply questions of ethics to real and current medical dilemmas, completing case studies, close-reading and discussing, researching, arguing, and ultimately presenting their position on an issue they have become expert in.
AP Biology
AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes—energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.