Third-year medical student J.T. Knight shows Samvith Ravi, 12, his beating heart at the Ultrasound is Ultra-fun station.

About 450 elementary school-age children and their parents and grandparents converged on the Wayne State University School of Medicine on Saturday to get glimpse into the inner-working of what it’s like to be a doctor and work in the world of medicine and medical science.

Now in its 18th year, Future Docs offers children 6 to 12 – and their parents and grandparents – the opportunity to

explore the world of medicine, medical science and health careers through a day filled with fun and education. The event, held March 7 at Scott Hall and the Mazurek Medical Education Center, featured 16 hands-on medical and science workshops with names like Brain Blast and Wind Your Way Through DNA.

There was plenty of fun involved with the science, including a photobooth, a tattoo station and a healthy living exercise station. Students also received a commemorative T-shirt, backpack and other medical-themed swag, and lunch.
In addition to providing potential generations of physicians and scientists with a window on medicine and research, Future Docs also gives medical students and School of Medicine faculty the chance to share their knowledge and enthusiasm while giving back to the community.

“I’m not sure what field I’m going into yet, but working at this gives me more exposure to different fields,” said first-year

medical student Ashton Lewandowski, of Freeland, Mich. “I have two exams coming up next week, but I’ve been volunteering more with children to see them get opportunities they might not have otherwise.”

Lewandowski, manning the Saw Bones station, assisted visitors in learning about orthopedic surgery and bone repair using rods and screws. He led sisters Emma Prysak, 8, and Lydia Prysak, 11, through the repair of a broken femur. The sisters are the daughters of Geoff Prysak, M.D., an Internal Medicine specialist, who graduate from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2009.

“We’re not sure that they want to go into medicine, but this is great to give them some experience,” Dr. Prysak said as Emma and Lydia drilled into a replica femur and bolted a plate in place.

Suchith Lanka, 10, also got hands-on opportunity, using ultrasound technology to scan the beating heart of his brother, Samvith, 12, in real time. This was their fourth year at Future Docs, said their father, Ravi.

“I want them to explore different opportunities, to see what is available to them in the future,” said Ravi Lanka, of Canton, Mich. “I didn’t have this type of opportunity growing up.”

J.T. Knight, a third-year medical student from Ann Arbor who plans a career in general surgery, assisted the Lanka brothers with the ultrasound.

“Kids should be exposed to the opportunities, and Future Docs does that,” Knight said. “This allows them to see what they might want to do, opens their minds to medicine. I never saw or touched an ultrasound until my first year, and here they not only get to see it, they get the hands-on experience.”